Living in a Fairy Tail
by TheFlagshipArkos
Summary: Juvia has lived alone in world of dark storm clouds and thundering rain for years. When her friend Cana predicted that her whole life would change, she was a little skeptical. Yet the truth of those words will soon be tested as a new tenant and his roommate move into a neighbouring apartment. Just how will Juvia handle this new situation?
1. A New Arrival

**Hello and welcome to my first work in the Fairy Tail fandom. I have toyed with the idea of writing something a little more lighthearted and fun for a while and well, I finally decided to. I welcome all criticisms as this is my first piece utilising these characters, but I do hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Blue eyes dimmed as they looked out the window and into the world beyond. It was raining, the same as the day before and the week before even that. The rains came down in thick sheets born from the gloomy blanket of black and grey clouds above. Oh how her heart ached to see the great blue beyond and admire the brilliant rays of the sun shining down.

In truth Juvia couldn't remember a time when it hadn't been raining. Each and every day since she could remember, she would leap out of bed and dash to the window in the futile hope that the skies would clear and that the rains would flee never to return to ruin her day. But that day had never come and, little by little, her hopes had crumbled away until near nothing remained.

With a sigh, she made her way through to her apartment's tiny bathroom to shower and get ready for the day ahead. It would be wet and miserable, but she refused to simply give up. Cana had told her, time and time again that things would change. She had promised. Though whether these things would ever actually come to pass was anyone's guess much less as to _when_ they would happen, Cana's predictions were often made while she was blind drunk, which naturally left Juvia feeling more than a little sceptical; no matter how often the mystic claimed that she had never given a false prediction.

Having showered, Juvia fixed herself some breakfast and ate at the tiny table in her kitchen. The apartment that she occupied was far from spacious and even further from luxurious but she had done her best to make it a home of sorts and the rent was affordable. Washing her dishes, the blue haired girl made her way changed into her works uniform and dashed out the door to catch the bus to work.

* * *

The rains soon had her drenched but she had long since ceased to notice such things; to her it was just another unavoidable part of life like the sun setting or the changing of the tides. In the beginning she had a trusty umbrella which she took everywhere but it had never managed to hold off the heavy downpour and so she had stopped bringing it.

The bus stop provided a brief respite from the weather as the droplets drummed heavily on the Perspex shelter overhead. The stop was crowded with people, some who Juvia recognised from her daily commute and some whom she had never encountered before. They greeted her with warm smiles, and shuffled up to make room for her to take cover beside them.

"You know, you really should get an umbrella. If you keep running around in the rain like this you're going to catch cold and then who would I get to ogle in the mornings?" A gruff voice said from beside her, bringing a bright red flush to Juvia's cheeks. Its owner was an elderly man of somewhat diminutive stature that Juvia had seen a handful of times before on her way to work. He had bright eyes with a balding head and a shock of white hair around the sides of his head. His lip was adorned with a healthy moustache and he often had a mischievous smile plastered across his aged face.

"Grandpa! You should know better!" The tall girl beside him said in shock, swatting her grandfather on the arm. She held little resemblance to her ancestor, save for having brilliant white hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her face was a kindly one, with laughter lines around her eyes and an easy smile; in all she was quite beautiful. "I'm so sorry Miss, he isn't normally like this."

"I-it's alright, no harm done. It's nothing that Juvia hasn't experienced before." Juvia replied, giving her best attempt at a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Juvia, I'm Mirajane, but most people just call me Mira. And this is my Grandpa Makarov." She explained, introducing both herself and her grandfather.

Juvia nodded to them each in turn; glad to have finally been properly introduced to at least two new people. It was good to have people to talk to in such dismal circumstances, regardless of how well she actually knew them. Friends did shine brightly in the otherwise grey world that she had become accustomed to.

The remaining time until her bus came, Juvia chatted with Mira and Makarov, coming to learn a little more about them and the lives which they lead. Mira was a waitress at a small time restaurant in the town and was living with her grandfather, so as to help him with the day to day elements which he had come to struggle with. While it was true that Makarov still held on to a degree of his independence, there was a deal which he wasn't able to do for himself and with which he required help. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all, however, was that they lived in the same apartment complex that Juvia did, only a few floors down.

Even though 'Fairy Hills' was by far the largest apartment complex in the surrounding area and housed a great many residents Juvia still found it odd that she hadn't ever seen the two of them around the building before.

With a wave, Juvia boarded her bus for her usual commute and waved to her new friends. Taking her seat she put in her headphones and scrolled through her classical playlist before hitting play and settling in for the trip.

She watched the water droplets make their way down the bus's window, absorbing herself in how they rolled down the glass, forging little trails one after another despite the pull of the slipstream. She even began to count races between the droplets, placing little bets on which would win the race from top to bottom. So absorbed was she that she nigh on missed her stop, running out the doors at the last moment and apologising to the driver over and over until the bus had driven off, leaving her alone in the rain again.

It was a short walk from the bus stop to her place of work and was made even shorter by the presence of a slight spring in her step. Meeting Mira and Makarov had done wonders on improving her mood and had left her ready to face the day ahead no matter what the world might throw her way.

* * *

She smiled happily as the coffee shop came into view. It was a humble establishment with a modest store front sporting only the store's sign. It hung from the front in iron with a large steaming coffe cup, emblazoned with a collection of stars and added calligraphic pieces spelling out the shop's name; 'Love and Lucky's Coffee'. The paint had faded over the years however and had completely removed the 'K', leaving it as 'Love and Lucy's Coffee' a particularly fitting given that the quaint little store's owner was Juvia's boss and closest friend; Lucy Heartfilia.

Lucy was a kind woman and a better boss, despite her relatively young age. She had inherited the shop from her father when he had passed four years ago and had run the place in the same spirit that her parents had before her; 'priding herself on providing the highest quality of service at a reasonable price'. It was a business model which had worked particularly well considering that it was rare for the store to be completely empty. Nearly all of the customers which the shop served were regulars, individuals that would come in for the caffeine fix ahead of work, on their lunch breaks or simply to get warm out of the rains which plagued Magnolia.

As she entered the little coffee shop, Juvia was hardly surprised to find Lucy already there supplying the early morning customers with an almost constant stream of caffeine. She flowed seamlessly from one order to the next without ever second-guessing herself or allowing the smile to fade from her face. Truly she was in her element.

"Good morning, Juvia~!" Lucy sang out as she finished glossing a fresh batch of milk for her latest orders. Juvia gave her a smile before heading through to the back and shedding her coat and bags, emerging once again into the front of house, tying her apron around her waist.

It didn't take long before she found herself inundated with orders that sent her dashing back and forth from the grinder to the coffee machine itself with a sense of practiced ease. This was where Juvia excelled, where she could lose herself in the manic rhythm of the various orders and requests of the multitude of customers who entered the shop. Both women were in complete harmony as they worked to keep the city's coffee addicts at bay.

Her shift passed her by quickly, aided by the almost constantly busy nature of the 'Love and Lucky' enterprise. The volume of customers followed its usual pattern and died down around mid-morning before picking up again around the early afternoon. By the time that Lucy finally closed the doors for the day, Juvia's feet were aching and numbed but she had a satisfied smile on her face; proud of another day's work.

Once the shop was cleaned down, Lucy made the two of them her signature drink, a concoction of fresh coffee grounds and spices into what she called the 'Celestial Latte'. It had become a well-established ritual for the two of them at the end of every shift as they finally took the weight off of their feet and began to unwind.

"You know, I think today was the busiest day we have had for a while. I didn't know that there were so many people in Magnolia that would want our coffee. If this keeps up I'll have to take on more baristas." Lucy complained with a tired smile.

"Well… Word gets around. All of your customers love this place, it makes sense to Juvia that so many would come here rather than the other shops in town." Juvia answered, sipping at her coffee again and marvelling as the complex flavours worked their way across her tongue.

"Heh, yeah. I guess I should be happy but at this rate I'm not sure how we will cope with them all. As it is we are already coming close to running out of milk and spices. I think I'll place an ad in the paper for next week and see about getting some more staff in. It can't be healthy for you and I to be in here all day every day trying to keep so many people supplied." Lucy said after a pause. "It would be good for us to have a little more time off from this place. I love it here but it kinda takes over my life, y'know?"

It was true, in the four years since her parents had passed; Lucy had been in the shop every day serving coffee to the ever growing tide of customers. Juvia had joined her for three of those, working closely alongside the blonde as word of the business had spread and it had become ever busier. Yet as the business had grown stronger, so had the bond between the two baristas; Lucy had long since grown fond of her employee, valuing her help and advice in all manner of things both business related and in terms of her social life. The two of them had become inseparable.

"Juvia agrees… It can be pretty tiring sometimes, but Juvia doesn't want Lucy to think that she doesn't enjoy working here." The blue haired girl replied, choosing her words carefully before going on. "Juvia… also needs the hours to pay her rent…"

"Oh! Yeah, don't worry about that!" Lucy cried, blushing a little "You've been with the company for years and sometimes I really don't know what would have happened if I hadn't taken you on. All I meant is that with the way the business is going, we could use a little extra help, and with the growing popularity of the place I can really afford to start paying you the kind of wage that you deserve so uh… Yeah, you don't have to worry about rent or anything like that!"

Juvia stared at her deadpan for several long moments, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks before in an instant she leapt over and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Thank you so much Lucy!" She cried; giggling excitedly as her mind raced over all of the possibilities that a raise might bring for her. Perhaps she would finally be able to get a car, or maybe some better furniture for her apartment. Under her grasp, Lucy gasped for air, both surprised and shocked at her friend's sudden burst of affection.

"I-it's okay! You really don't have to thank me. You earned it all over the last three years! In fact, take tomorrow off, I'll take the day to get the ads out and take care of the supply issues. I know you want to argue but don't, I insist." She said defensively, still fighting for breath.

As she spoke, Lucy could have sworn that she saw the rain lessen and ease up ever so slightly as it fell against the windows. Shaking the thoughts from her mind as being mere imaginings, she returned her friend's hug. The weather in Magnolia was almost permanently rainy, though there had been a few exceptions over the years. It always seemed to be whenever Juvia had left town to visit family or take the occasional break for vacation, something which had become a running joke between the two in that the rain followed Juvia around. Little did Lucy know the truth that lay behind those jokes.

* * *

Having finished her work for the day and after wishing Lucy a good evening, Juvia headed out into the rains again. She was once again soaked through by the time that she boarded the bus home and even more so by the time she entered the lobby of her apartment complex. Seeing the elevator propped open she stopped with a groan. It was packed full of boxes crudely labelled in black marker, designating them to a room such as 'kitchen stuff' or 'bedroom things'.

With a sigh, Juvia turned away and headed towards the stairwell for the laborious climb up to the fifth floor. She had gone no more than two flights up when she collided with a figure coming running down. She cried out as she fell, barely keeping herself from tumbling down the flight that she had just climbed.

"Oh jeez! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, are you hurt?" A voice asked even as strong hands clasped her arms and helped her to her feet with a surprising degree of care. It was a deep and masculine voice with a somewhat icy tone to it.

"Y-yeah, I think so…" She began, but before she could say anything else, cerulean eyes met with those of a dark brown and her heart felt as though it had stopped for several long moments. The man holding her up was absolutely gorgeous!

He had pitch black hair that hung down across his eyes in wild strands, shadowing his dark eyes. There was a slight frown on his face, though whether Juvia was the root of it she couldn't tell. Hanging loosely about him was a burgundy shirt, unbuttoned at the front to reveal a chest which looked like it had been carved by angels. He was magnificent.

She quickly found her feet and backed away from her with a shy expression plastered across her face and colour flooding her cheeks. She stared down at her shoes and stole glances at him every few moments. She felt hot and cold and completely unsure of herself, her mind was both overflowing with thoughts and completely blank. Her heart beat at a million miles an hour and there was a bizarre and alien feeling in her chest that she had never felt before.

' _Juvia! Pull it together, you are not in high school anymore! This is stupid! He is just a guy, use your words dammit!'_ She internally cursed.

"I-I've not seen you around here before… A-are you new?" She asked shakily, finally managing to kick her brain into action.

"Yeah, my roommate and I just moved into my new place today. It's on the fifth floor, so I'm using the elevator to ferry in the boxes from the truck while he unpacks… a-are you sure you're okay?" He replied, looking at her quizzically.

Juvia immediately knew what he was referring to. She was stood totally slack-jawed and staring at him blankly.

"Yes! I'm fine, um… w-welcome to 'Fairy Hills'! I'm actually your new neighbour, I live in 52." She said, trying her best not to stare.

"Oh really? Well please, let me walk you back to your apartment, it's the least I can do after I knocked you down." He replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, no please. You really don't have to; I mean it was an accident…" Juvia hated each and every word as it left her mouth, knowing full well that she would like nothing more than for him to walk her back up to her apartment.

' _Juvia, what are you thinking?! You don't even know this guy!'_

"Nonsense, It'll give me a chance to meet the neighbours and take a break. Let my roommate catch up on the unpacking." He insisted, shooting her the first smile since they had collided.

Walking together, he accompanied her up to the fifth floor and listened intently as she told him about all of the facilities that 'Fairy Hills' had to offer as well as the best places nearby to get laundry done. He struck her as the stoical type, barely saying a word as they climbed, though the look on his face told her that he was listening intently as she spoke.

When they reached her floor, she immediately saw the apartment that the mystery man was moving into. Mountains of boxes, similar to those that she had seen in the elevator were stacked outside, and the vague sounds of movement coming from beyond, likely from the unknown roommate. Juvia pointed out her door and made her way over, pausing for a moment to introduce herself.

"My name is Juvia by the way." She said with a smile, her nerves having settled down a little.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Gray." He answered, shaking her hand and inspiring another flush of colour to her face. Turning away quickly, she produced her keys to unlock the door. As an afterthought, she turned back once again to ask him in for refreshments only to find that he was gone, likely returning to his removal work.

Sighing and lamenting the lost opportunity, she unlocked her apartment door and headed inside.

* * *

Juvia woke up late the next morning with a stab of panic shooting through her before she remembered that Lucy had given her the day off. It was an odd feeling as she lay in her warm bed, savouring the heat underneath the covers. She could hear the rainfall thundering down outside her window.

Quite unbidden, her mind wandered to her new neighbour. 'Gray' she mused, running his name through her head over and over. It had been hard to get any idea of the kind of man that he was in the brief time she had spent in his company. From first impressions, he had seemed quite a serious and stoical individual but also with a warm heart, quick to smile.

She wondered what it was that he did for a job, and what his roommate was like. Despite numerous attempts to get her mind off of the subject of her new and attractive neighbour, she simply couldn't and before long she had an entire life thought out for him. She imagined him to be a well-to-do business man who wore a suit to work and drove a nice car, and lived a life of relative luxury; far from the life that Juvia herself lived.

Climbing out of bed she made her way through to the tiny bathroom and showered, hoping the cascade of hot water and billowing steam would help to rid her mind of thoughts of him, but they didn't nor could the novel that she had been reading or the endless hours of mind-numbing daytime television. Nothing could seemingly get the thoughts of him out of her mind and she couldn't fathom why. It was both scary and exciting all at once and left her feeling overwhelmed.

Around mid-afternoon she was seriously considering the idea of going over to visit him, maybe taking some cookies with her as a welcoming gift. It would only be the neighbourly thing to do after all, and she was sure that his roommate would appreciate the gesture too, so it definitely wasn't just to see Gray again. Though every time that she came close to actually going through with her plan she would feel a bout of girlish nerves and bottle it all over again. It made for a frustrating cycle until at last she gave up on the concept all together.

That night, Juvia's dreams were bizarre. She saw herself standing in a field of golden wheat beneath a bright sky. The wheat rustled softly with every slight breeze and gust, soothing to her ears. The skies were beautiful and clear, with no sign of the rains which had plagued Juvia throughout her life. Just a short way from her was a figure with his back turned to her, though from the head of wild black locks, she determined them to be Gray.

Juvia approached with caution, reaching out to tap him on the shoulder when he turned to face her. He had his usual half-frown set in place but there was no malice in it. Just when she was about to open her mouth to speak to him, he faded away into a thin mist and the storm clouds rolled in. Before she could so much as blink, the rain was falling in sheets and the clouds had blotted out all trace of the blue skies or the brilliant sunshine which had preceded them. Juvia tried to run but before long was soaked through to her skin; collapsing to her knees, she shivered.

* * *

The following day, Juvia's alarm tore her from sleep and left her wondering just what her vivid dreams could possibly have meant. Following her usual regimen she climbed out from under the covers and made her way to the window. A shiver ran up the length of her spine in the absence of the warmth of her duvet as she looked out into the world beyond the thin pane of glass. Not to her surprise, it was raining. Though it was far from being as heavy as the previous day, in fact for the first time it only seemed to be a slight drizzle.

Going about her routine, Juvia showered and ate before grabbing her coat and heading out the door for another long day in Lucy's coffee shop. There was a spring in her step as she made her way down to the bus stop, eager to get into work and tell Lucy all about the mysterious new man who had moved in just a couple of doors down from her own apartment. She just knew that the blonde woman would be jealous.

Though, all ideas of such a thing were robbed from her when she looked up from the pavement to assess the people already waiting at the bus stop. Neither Mira nor Makarov were there, but someone else was. Stood in a slate grey suit and sheltering from the drizzle in the air was Gray. Juvia froze for a moment, oblivious to the falling precipitation which was gradually soaking her to her skin. Timidly, she approached and took her place beside him under the shelter.

"Morning Gray." She said, her voice sounding thin and barely above a whisper.

"Hey neighbour." He chuckled, "Just to check, this is where I catch the number 37 service to the upper west side right?"

"Yes, they usually come along every fifteen minutes or so I think."

"Thanks" He said, nodding with a smile of gratitude. "I have no idea where anything is at the moment. While I'm at it I'm sorry I had to disappear yesterday, but my roommate tends to get a little… heated if he is left to his own devices for too long so I had to check on him and help get the rest of the boxes moved in."

"Oh…" She answered, "Juvia had wondered where you had gone, though she should have known that you were back to moving in."

"Yeah, but hey, my roommate and I are throwing a little party tomorrow night to celebrate moving in and it would be pretty cool I you could come. Bring a friend if you like, I mean the more the merrier. We are both new in town so it would be great to get to know some new people." He suggested, the hint of a smile curling up the corner of his lips.

Juvia froze, unsure of just what was going on or what she should say. Down the street her bus came into view. He was inviting her to a party, as well as any friend that she might like. But Juvia had no idea what that meant, it had been so long since she had been out partying that she had all but forgotten what it was like. Lucy would know what to do, Lucy would help her.

"O-okay, that sounds fun. Juvia will be there, she will bring her friend Lucy along. See you then!" Juvia replied, just as her bus arrived and she climbed on board.

And with that the doors to the bus closed and bore her away from him.

* * *

"He what?!" Lucy asked in total shock and surprise after Juvia had told her the full story. It almost didn't seem fair to her. "He nearly knocked you back down three flights of stairs, and then asked you round to his new place for a moving in party, _and_ you say he's dreamy?!"

"W-well… he was certainly… attractive." Juvia answered defensively, and with a deep blush on her cheeks. The coffee shop was in its usual mid-morning quiet period and as such Lucy had been able to interrogate her more or less uninterrupted for the past few minutes. The blonde businesswomen seemed utterly incredulous at the story that Juvia had relayed.

"Well then, that settles it." She replied with a smirk. "We have to go to that party. You never know, you and Gray might hit it off and start your own little romance story. It would be a great idea for a novel actually, I can imagine it now!"

"B-but Juvia doesn't have anything to wear…" Juvia tried to protest, but Lucy was having none of it.

"Nice try…" The blonde laughed "We will go shopping tomorrow afternoon, I'll close the place up after the lunch rush and we can get ourselves some outfits to turn some heads. What do you say?"

Juvia nodded, knowing that it would be an utterly futile gesture to try and refuse the blonde. If there was one thing that she had learned about Lucy in the time that they had known one another, it was that Lucy wasn't one to be deterred once her mind had been made up.

* * *

The rest of her shift passed by in relative peace now that Lucy had been placated with the promise of both shopping and a party, though as she worked Juvia couldn't help but wonder about what her best friend had said. Lucy had promised an outfit that would turn some heads, but would that really be the case, and was it what Juvia really wanted? After a bad previous relationship, Juvia's confidence had been left in tatters and it had taken a very long time to rebuild herself to the level that she was currently at. Naturally the idea of branching out seemed a daunting one, especially in the company of so many people that she wouldn't know. It all seemed like madness.

Yet even despite all of her fears and inhibitions, Juvia simply couldn't deny the feeling of excitement which was slowly taking her over. It was a chance to meet new people and spend more time with Gray, a golden opportunity for getting to know her new neighbour much better.

One way or another, by the end of the party, she would likely know whether or not he was the type of man that she would want to be around. Attractive or no, this was her chance to size him up and get a real idea of his character.

As she made her way home, it was with a spring in her step, completely disregarding the rain that fell around her or the puddles through which she splashed nonchalantly. The bus ride back was comparatively pleasant with her music playing on and her mood set firmly towards the positive. Lucy messaged her on the way back, asking for details on the kind of outfit which Juvia would like to buy the following afternoon, seemingly already planning out the whole endeavour right down to the very finest of details. To Juvia it all seemed as though it might be a little excessive, but there was no deterring the blonde.

That night, as her head hit the pillow, she wondered one more time over what the party would be like. She wondered how many people would be going and hoped that it wouldn't be too cramped inside Grey's apartment once they had all arrived. Above all, she wondered on what type of outfit would work best for the event.

Excitement was the key emotion welling up within her heart as she lay in bed that night. Closing her eyes she drifted off slowly into the world of her dreams, thinking of her friend Cana and the prediction that she had made.

" **Times will change as new influences make their way into your life, your world will become brighter by the light of new friends and the love of close ones."**

Little did she know, just how true those words would be…

* * *

 **Well there it is. I hope that you all enjoyed it and will continue to follow it in future. As I say this is my first piece for the Fairy Tail fandom, so if you did enjoy it please do favourite and follow and don't forget to leave a review. The next chapter will be posted pretty much as soon as I can get it written.**

 **Thank you all for reading and as always,**

 **I'll see you all in the next chapter.**


	2. Stepping into the future

**Hello and a very warm welcome back. My apologies for the delay between the previous chapter and this one but i was having some real dramasin trying to get it to a point where I was happy to publish it. But I finally got it done and proofed to a point that im fairly happy with it. So, without further ado, here it is! I hope you like it.**

* * *

Juvia was all in a panic. Both she and Lucy had been about the town all day, perusing all of the various clothes shops in all of the malls that Magnolia city had to offer. But for all of the choices put before her she had not been able to find one outfit that she liked enough to wear to the party. It was frustrating her to no end, and she could just tell that it was beginning to grind Lucy's gears too.

It wasn't out of a desire to be awkward that Juvia had rejected all of the outfits that Lucy had suggested up until now, but rather, for the first time in recent memory she really wanted to make a great impression with her new neighbour and not just because he was an attractive twenty-something with deep eyes and the body of a Grecian god.

"What about this one?" The blonde asked tiredly, holding up a short white pleated summer dress, all trimmed in a deep shade of blue.

Juvia turned to look and her eyes widened, it was beautiful! The fabric was soft and the design was simple, yet elegant. The blues matched her hair almost exactly to the shade in a way that had her wondering whether the dress truly had been made for her. It was striking with the way the two colours interacted; the flow of the pleats in the skirt, along with their cerulean trim reminded her of the ocean. Stepping forward with an ever growing smile she took the garment from her friend with a nod.

"I-it's perfect! Juvia must try it on!" She answered with barely contained excitement. Clutching the garment close to her chest she made a dash for the changing rooms. The bewildered attendant looked to Lucy as though for an explanation, but the blonde could only shrug with an apologetic smile before following after her friend.

Near five minutes had passed by the time that Juvia came out of her cubicle, but the wait was well worth it. The dress fit her excellently, flowing like water and hugging the incredible figure beneath. The cobalt hues of the trim served to accentuate the barista's hair and eyes to an amazing degree, just as the waist came in to show off her curves.

"What does Lucy think?" Juvia asked nervously, as she turned to Lucy for her opinions.

"Juvia, I… It's perfect. I don't think we could ever find something that looks _that_ good on you anywhere else." That was all that Lucy could say, and what else was there to say? It was as though the powers that be had made it solely for her.

Juvia's cheeks turned a deep shade of red as her friend spoke. She had, of course, spent a long while trying to look at herself in the tiny mirror within the changing cubicle but it had been both too small and scratched up for her to be able to get any real indication of how it was that she looked.

"Does Lucy really mean it?" She beamed, seizing her friend in a tight hug effectively removing any concept of personal space that there had previously been. Yet Lucy smiled, glad that they had managed to find something for Juvia to wear at last.

' _Though what am I going to wear?'_ Lucy thought to herself with a slight cringe. She had been focussing so much on trying to find Juvia something that she had yet to pay any mind to what She herself would be wearing to Gray's party. She had plenty of cute outfits back home but none which she would say 'turned head's'. It simply wouldn't do!

After the past few years of working almost solidly at the coffee shop she was finally emerging out into the social scene again, just as it was for Juvia, and Lucy was going to do it in style. Since her parents had died, Lucy had in effect cut herself off from the world. She had ceased to socialise as she might have done before hand. In fact, she had isolated herself so much, that the only real social interactions that she had were with the customers in her coffee shop and with Juvia in the few occasions they had watched movies in Lucy's home. But she had decided things were going to change, this party was the first step on the road to getting back out there again.

' _Who knows, maybe there will be a nice guy at the party?'_ She mused, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. Just as the party was important for Juvia, so it was for Lucy too.

Once Juvia returned with her new dress folded over her arm, the two girls made their way over to the checkout so that they could pay.

As they left the store, Lucy looked at her watch in despair. There were only a few hours left for her to find, try on and buy a whole new outfit before the two girls would have to get to Juvia's apartment and start getting ready. Given how much time it had taken the two of them to find something for Juvia, the blonde was beginning to feel a little anxious.

As it happened, she needn't have worried at all. It wasn't long before she found something that she absolutely loved. It was a little red open-backed dress. The cut of the material was excellent, showing off a fair amount of skin while still managing to appear classy. The sides and along the waist was embroidered with little stars in golden thread, complementing the red material around them. It wasn't quite on the same level as Juvia's had been, but the blonde was confident that it would do very nicely for the party.

After the several hours that they had spent shopping, and with their respective purchases in tow, the two of them finally left the mall. Outside, the sun had all but set and the rain was falling in a fine mist; not quite a downpour but more than enough to soak their clothes. Lucy sighed, knowing exactly what this kind of weather would do to her hair and thanking her stars that the two of them would be getting ready over at Juvia's place, protecting it from a second exposure to the elements.

Together, they caught a taxi from the nearest taxi rank and crossed town to the 'Fairy Hills' apartment complex. The two women passed the trip in a comfortable silence, enjoying one another's company. Lucy contented herself with looking out of her window and watching the world beneath the raindrops.

She had lost herself so deeply in thought, that when the taxi pulled up outside, it was several seconds before she even noticed. In the end, it was Juvia tapping her on the shoulder that finally brought the blonde crashing down to earth. Apologising to their driver with an embarrassed smile, Lucy paid the fare and the two girls got out of the car. Back outside and at the mercy of the elements, they made a dead sprint for the lobby.

By the time they had gotten inside and shaken off both the rain and the chill, they had just missed the elevator its steel doors clanging shut even as they watched. Juvia led the way to the stair with a slight sigh and began the lengthy climb, trusting that Lucy would be following close behind her. The climb was lengthier than Juvia had expected with the bags containing their purchases slowing them down.

When at last they reached the fifth floor, Lucy's legs were feeling like lead. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath, staggering after Juvia who shuffled along the corridor to stop in front of her apartment door. In a practiced movement, Juvia unlocked and pushed her way through the door into the hallway of her home. Lucy followed closely behind, eager to see the place that Juvia lived. Odd as it may have seemed, in the two years that Lucy had been friends with Juvia, she had never once seen the barista's home. Each of the times that they had spent together outside of work had been in Lucy's own humble dwelling, and so she was keen to see the sort of place which Juvia had chosen to make her home in.

As it turned out, the apartment wasn't what she might have expected for her blue haired friend. The first thing that she noticed was how small the place was. The hallway was painfully narrow, with a line of coat-hooks along the wall. There was hardly the room to breathe which left Lucy with a horrible feeling of claustrophobia.

The colour of the walls was a bland and dark shade of green, doing nothing to lighten the place up, though here and there Juvia had hung paintings which brought some slight colour to the apartment, but the effect was extremely limited. In a way, Lucy found it sad knowing that her best and most loyal friend, the girl who had helped her practically built her business up over the course of the past three years, was living in such a tiny and cramped apartment.

In fact it was only Juvia's bedroom which had any real sense of space to it. The back wall featured a single bay window which looked out over the city's south side. The view may not have been all that much, but the light that it let in was game changing. Along the sill of the window was a collection of statuettes and geodes of the most beautiful and varied colours that Lucy had ever seen.

A large artist's easel stood in the corner beside the window with number of sketches propped up on it. The quality of the work was exceptional, though Lucy couldn't help but notice that all of the images were of the city in brilliant sunshine, never was there any sign of a rain cloud.

"Juvia, you never told me that you were an artist…" She gasped, wondering just what else about her blue-haired friend that she didn't know.

"It's just a hobby of Juvia's really, something to help her take her mind off of things when it all gets a bit much." She answered, a blush creeping across her features.

"They're amazing! You'll have to sketch something for me to hang up in my place some time." Lucy insisted

"Wha- No! Juvia's work isn't suitable for display in Lucy's home! They are just sketches of whatever crops up in her mind." Juvia replied, standing defensively in front of her easel and blocking the blonde's view of the art upon it. Lucy opened her mouth to argue but gave up with a sigh; she could see that it would only lead to a cycle argument without end. Internally she made a note to offer to commission Juvia for one of her sketches.

* * *

The remainder of the evening passed by fairly swiftly as the two girls set about their preparations for the party. It wasn't easy for Lucy to shower in the apartment's tiny bathroom as she kept elbowing the walls in the process, but she made do with the facilities available to her. Letting the water cascade down on her and flow through her golden locks, Lucy finally allowed herself to think about the night ahead of them.

Foremost, she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of a party it would be; though a part of her hoped and prayed with every fibre of her being for it to not be completely wild and out of control. Of course she knew that Juvia was out to wow her mysterious new neighbour, but where did that leave the blonde? The idea of being left alone in a party full of total strangers gripped her with an awkward sense of anxiety.

Emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, Lucy set about the process of drying and styling her golden hair into something more presentable. Juvia had a very limited range of appliances, leaving the blonde all the more glad that she had packed and brought a few of her own that morning.

By the time that Juvia returned, Lucy had more or less succeeded in styling her hair. It was a simple look, tied up in a flowing high ponytail with a few strands left loose to frame her face. She had painstakingly straightened her locks out and brushed them until they shone line burnished gold. Looking in the mirror she nodded contently and moved on to her makeup, opting for a more subtle and minimalist approach.

Juvia took a very different approach, curling her hair so that it flowed like so many waves over her shoulders. To Lucy it seemed like the oceans themselves imbued her hair with all of their beauty and grace. It was enough to make anyone envious. In terms of her makeup, Juvia had gone simple and chosen a high impact eye liner with a touch of blue shadow to really bring out the deep cerulean colour of her eyes. One look at her was all Lucy needed to know that Gray was in trouble.

Yet no matter how incredible Juvia looked, she still carried herself with the same kind of shy and modest bearing as always. She seemed to resemble a high school student on her way to ask out her crush for the very first time. In a way Lucy couldn't help but smile, it was an odd comparison to draw.

* * *

After having checked over her appearance for what felt like the millionth time, Lucy gathered up her belongings in her purse and followed her friend out of the little apartment. Juvia locked up and the two girls made their way across the hall to Gray's apartment. As they stood there, about to knock, the faint sounds of music could be heard coming from inside.

Raising her hand, Lucy rapped her knuckles against the wood four times in quick succession. There was an awkwardly long pause before the door swung open to reveal a man with rosy pink hair in a plaid shirt of red and black matched with a rather out of place knitted scarf. His hair was all mussed up and wild as though he had just woken up. He couldn't have been more than twenty two, and the look in his eyes bespoke a sense of wonderment. At first glance, Lucy was quite taken aback; he was quite bizarre when compared to the people that she had met in the past, and as a result she wasn't entirely sure how to behave.

"You must be Juvia! Gray mentioned that you would be coming by; I'm his roommate, Natsu, pleased to meet you. Though who is this with you?" He asked, a bright smile never leaving his face.

"Yes, I am Juvia and this is Lucy. Gray said that I might bring a friend with me?" Juvia answered, nerves creeping into her voice.

"Yeah that's all cool, the more the merrier right?" He stepped aside, allowing Juvia past him and looking at Lucy with the same easy smile that brought an inexplicable blush to her cheeks. "Come on in Luigi, and make yourself at home!"

"It's Lucy!" She fired back defensively before entering the apartment. She quickly lost sight of Juvia in the narrow hallways as she darted off, presumably to find their host. There weren't as many people in the apartment as Lucy might have expected, though the limited space gave the impression that there were twice as many.

Shrugging off Juvia's disappearance since the two of them would probably meet up again later anyway, she took a few moments to absorb her surroundings. Despite still being fairly cramped, Gray and Natsu's apartment was considerably larger than Juvia's place had been. The carpets were deep and springy underfoot and the walls were painted more subtle shades of orange. Ordinarily it might have been quite a bold statement to make, but given the nature of its occupants, Lucy couldn't help but think that it was well suited. In terms of real decorations, there were very few save for the couple of photographs hung on the walls.

One picture in particular caught her eye; It was an image of four children, all huddled together with bright smiles on their faces. They all looked like the happiest people on earth. One was a young girl with scarlet hair and a mock up armour chest plate, next to her was a boy with rosy pink hair and a white knitted scarf that was far too big for him whom she assumed to be a young Natsu. Beside them was another girl with stark white hair and a pair of piercing blue eyes that could rival even Juvia's, and finally there was a boy with pitch black hair and a fixed brooding expression. He was bare from the waist up and seemed completely unabashed by the fact. Lucy looked at them with wonderment, recalling memories from her own youth. It seemed so long since she had last had friendships with bonds as strong as those that Natsu appeared to have with his friends. Quite unbidden, a feeling of longing sprang up and gripped her heart in a vice-like grip.

"I still remember that year well. It was one of the happiest we ever had back at the orphanage. We spent the whole of the summer with each other, out in the nearby countryside having our own little adventures. We were the warriors of Fairy Tail!"

The blonde jumped at the voice beside her and immediately turned to find a woman of around the same age as Lucy was herself. The newcomer had a head of flowing red hair that fell to the small of her back and a happy expression. Her eyes were bright and jovial, lost in a world of reminiscence.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. I just saw you standing alone over here looking at the old picture and thought to introduce myself. I'm Erza, Erza Scarlet. I grew up with Natsu and Gray." She apologised, offering out a slender hand. Lucy shook it somewhat timidly, and was surprised to find that Erza had a strong grip.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lucy Heartfilia. My best friend is one of Gray's new neighbours; she is the one with the blue hair." Lucy said in turn, hoping to make a favourable impression.

"The pleasure is mine. Any friend of Natsu and Gray's is a friend of mine." She smiled, giving the photograph one last look before turning to face the blonde.

"So Lucy, what do you do?" Erza continued, seizing the initiative of their conversation; a fact which Lucy was particularly thankful for.

"Well, I run my own business; or rather, I run my parents' business. They passed away a couple of years ago and I took over their coffee shop. What about you, do you work in town?"

"Well, I volunteer part time at the orphanage just outside town where we all grew up. But I've been looking for something on the side too. I don't want anything huge, but enough so that I can afford to move into the city and be closer to these guys." The redhead replied with a nervous smile. Hearing her situation, Lucy couldn't help but think of her own business and the need to take on more staff.

"Well, if youre looking for work I might be able to help…" She began "I'm looking to take on more staff to help me cope with the increase in customers in my coffee house. Its nothing glamorous but I can offer regular hours and a fair wage."

It was certainly true that Lucy needed new staff to help manage the work load in the shop, and Erza seemed nice enough. If nothing else, the redhead was polite and friendly. Considering it, Lucy didn't see any reason why not to give her a chance. Besides, if Erza proved to be unsuitable then she was just back to square one.

"Really?" Erza asked, a look of hope spreading across her face. "I-I'd really appreciate it. I promise I won't disappoint you."

"Sure. I mean, it might be a couple of days before I can arrange it, but if you come by the shop just before closing time next Thursday, we can have a bit of a chat and see whether or not you're suitable for the position, maybe even get you making up some coffee to order. Do you have any experience?" Lucy answered, trying not to give any false hopes to the woman.

"Well… not exactly with coffee specifically, but I've waited tables in a little café for a while if that's of any use. I'm a quick learner at picking up new things though, and I work hard at everything I set myself to. For me it doesn't do to simply be good, I must excel wherever possible. I'll look forward to speaking with you about it on Thursday." Erza said with a smile before excusing herself and leaving a very bewildered Lucy alone again. This was shaping up to be quite a bizarre night.

* * *

Juvia worked her way through the apartment with a slightly anxious feeling settling itself in her stomach. Without Lucy beside her she felt a little lost and unsure of herself but it was quickly overwhelmed with excitement. Lucy had been right about turning heads, as she walked through the party the blue haired wonder caught several of the party goers sneaking glances at her, as well as a couple who overtly stared. A slight blush coloured her cheeks above a satisfied smile.

The people in the apartment were many and varied, ranging from short and petite figured through to a very large man with shoulders like boulders. Every one of them seemed to know those around them, and more than a few of them were getting to be pretty deep in their cups. Yet despite that, they all seemed to be having the time of their lives without a care in the world.

"Heh, nothing really changes. They always were a handful." A familiar voice said at her side. Turning, Juvia was met with the smiling visage of her new neighbour. His eyes were fixed on the wild group in front of them and had a slight spark in them as though lost in memories long passed. Seeing his expression, Juvia couldn't help the nerves bubbling up in her stomach. It felt as though a whole flock of butterflies were flying round within her.

"Gray's friends all look so close. Where did you meet them all?" Juvia asked nervously, finally managing to get some words out.

"Well… They're more like family than friends. We are all orphans of sorts, and all grew up together in the orphanage just outside of town. Our Gramps ran the place and kept us all in line." He answered with a slight smile. "No matter how bad things got or how often we fought each other we have always kinda stuck together. I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Juvia listened and felt her heart break a little. While her own childhood had been less than ideal, the idea of losing her parents was a terrible one, but her empathy was mixed in with a slight sense of envy at seeing the friends that Gray had grown up with. They shared a kind of closeness and bond which Juvia could only have dreamed about.

"It must have been nice, having so many friends around you when you were growing up." Juvia said slowly.

"Yeah… it was pretty special. But hey, I'm glad that you could make it! You look really nice by the way…" Juvia's eyes locked onto her shoes as he spoke to her, the butterflies inside her going absolutely crazy.

"T-thank you… So… um… are you going to introduce Juvia to your friends? I lost Lucy and don't know anyone else…" By now, Juvia was almost entirely a nervous wreck. Being surrounded by so many strangers, Gray, _and_ not having Lucy nearby, was beginning to take its toll on her. Gray seemed to pick up on this and wrapped and arm around her shoulder, gently ushering her forwards into the crowd.

"Everyone!" he yelled, catching the attention of the revellers "This is my neighbour Juvia; she wanted to meet you all. Juvia, these are my family, the folks of Fairy Tail."

Juvia tried to suppress the blush creeping onto her cheeks as they all turned to look at her. With his free arm, Gray began to gesture to the people in front of them. "The big guy is Elfman, and next to him is Lisanna, they're actually siblings. There is one more to their little unit but she is off taking care of Gramps tonight, he couldn't make it so she stayed home with him. The girl with the scarlet hair and the cake is Erza, she is kinda like the scary big sister that kept us all in line when we were little. She is normally pretty nice but when she gets mad its best to run for cover. The tiny girl with the book in the corner is Levy, she likes to keep to her reading mostly but she's pretty fun when she comes out of her shell…"

Juvia tried her best to listen to the names and offer smiles to each of them in turn. Gray spoke of them all with such fondness in his voice that Juvia felt her heart melt. The frown that she had seen on his face when first they met was gone, replaced by a warm smile that bespoke the strong fondness that he held for each and every one of them.

"Wow, Gray has a really big family!" Juvia said in awe when at last Gray had finished the introductions. She was right, by the time that he was done, Juvia had at least twenty new names to try and remember. With them all being Gray's family, it would seem likely that she would see more of them around the apartments and it would seem really awkward if she couldn't remember so much as their names. Luckily, that stress was likely to be taken off of her mind by force as their first actions upon the conclusion of Gray's introductions was to make space on the swamped couch and real her in. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by them, being plied with questions and had a fresh drink in her hand.

Her eyes scanned for Gray and gave out a desperate plea for help, though he simply laughed and shrugged as though to say 'Sorry, my hands are tied!' Yet despite the alien nature of her situation, it wasn't all that bad really. The individuals around her were all pleasant people and seemed to make great efforts to ensure her comfort. Erza, Lisanna and even little Levy soon established themselves as her favourites in the group, talking with Juvia as though they had known her all their lives. Any and all inhibitions went straight out the window.

* * *

Lucy had searched for Juvia for quite some time but had given up on seeing her with who she could only assume to have been Gray. Believing it to be a better move to leave the two of them to it, she opted to step out onto the apartment's modest balcony. It was bare of most all creature comforts save for a beat up pair of deck chairs and a small table which wobbled terribly. Yet despite the lack of luxuries, it could boast one thing that few other places in the city could; an uninterrupted view out over the city.

The night was perfect for it as Lucy leant her forearms on the railing to watch the world go by. Rain fell in delicate sheets, though she was sheltered by the balcony of the apartment directly above. Below lights twinkled and lit up the droplets like millions of tiny sunbursts all at once, taking her breath away. The moon hung lazily in the sky above, occasionally making a brief appearance from behind the clouds to bathe they young woman in its luminescence.

"It's nice isn't it?" Natsu said, coming to join her by the railing. His dark eyes twinkled as they looked out over the city sprawling before them. "It's one of the big reasons that we settled on this place to live."

"It's really pretty." She replied with a subtle nod, looking out over the sprawling metropolis of lights in front of them. "My Mom and I used to look out from our apartment at night. I swear she used to know all the stars by name. She used to tell me all of the stories that came with them too, stories about great hunters and elegant queens."

Lucy blushed a little as she realised what she had said. Here she was with a total stranger, baring the truth of her childhood. A subject which even Juvia didn't know. Yet, when she looked over at Natsu and saw the look in his eyes she got the feeling that he was the honest, that she could trust him. It was inexplicable and something that she could scarcely explain. With a shrug, she looked out over the cityscape again, leaving those thoughts for a better time. A breeze made its way through, bringing with it a couple of delicate raindrops and the evening chill sending a shiver down her spine.

Gently, a hand clasped her bare shoulder. It was warm and took away all feeling of the cold that she had been feeling. Looking over, her warm brown eyes met with his dark sage. For a long moment she considered edging away and breaking the contact between them, but something stopped her, though what or why it did she couldn't have said. Realising her situation, a dark blush crept across the blonde's cheeks and left her looking down at her hands, studying them in absolute detail.

Realising that the moment had passed, Natsu retracted his hand, robbing her of the warmth that it had previously provided her with. A part of her lamented the loss of contact, but she quickly dismissed it as being an odd flight of fantasy.

' _You're being stupid Luce… It's probably because you haven't met new people in so long. You just need to readjust!'_ she told herself, though a little part of her remained sceptical to the claim, as though it knew something that she herself didn't.

"So… uh… you wanna head back inside? Maybe grab a drink or something? I should probably introduce you to the others! You'll love them!" He asked, breaking the silence and scratching his neck nervously.

"Yeah… I think I'd like that." She replied; wrapping her arm around his and walking beside him back into the party.

* * *

The rest of the night passed by in a blur of names, dancing and drinks, oh so many drinks. But despite knowing that she would undoubtedly wake up with the worst hangover of her life, it was the most fun that Lucy had ever had. After having been a self-imposed recluse for so long, it felt good to back out and having fun again.

Once they had gotten back inside, Natsu's nerves seemed to completely vanish. He half led and half dragged her over to a huge cluster of people and introduced her to each and every one of them. Erza sat with a smile as Natsu introduced her for the second time. Nestled in the middle of the group was Juvia. She had a merry look on her face and a number of finished drinks piled up on the table in front of her.

Before long Lucy had joined them, drink in hand. She was surrounded on either side by both Gray and Natsu, both of whom were actively involved in the wider conversations of the group. As she sat there with them all, time passed quickly and the drinks even quicker. The stories kept coming, and with them came a roar of laughter. Even Lucy herself could help but giggle at the extraordinary nature of half of the tales. Each one was its own adventure.

Lucy had gone into the group expecting to be a somewhat awkward addition to the main conversation but this wasn't the case. They seemed to go to great lengths to bring her in and make her feel welcome and included. In particular, she found herself speaking with Levy. The two of them had a great deal in common given that they both had a love for books and were of an age with one another. They chatted for well over an hour about everything from books to writing. In particular she seemed avidly interested upon finding out that Lucy had started work on writing a book of her own. Just how she had ever agreed to it Lucy didn't recall, but somehow Levy had ended up with dibs on reading the first draft.

The party reached its peak when Natsu, swaying wildly in his drunken stupor, leapt up onto the table with a bottle in hand and took a swig, raising a lighter he spat a fine spray into the tiny flame and ignited it. A bolt of blue and orange fire leapt from his lips and up into the air.

"Fire dragons roar!" He laughed drunkenly before being promptly dragged off the table by Gray. The stoic had a slightly confused look on his face, torn between being impressed and angry.

"What the hell flame brain?! We just got the place and you're already tryin' to burn it down?" He slurred, grabbing Natsu by the collar of his shirt and butting their foreheads together.

Lucy couldn't tell who it was that threw the first punch but in an instant, the two were locked in mortal combat on the floor, rolling around in a pile of empty bottles, each trying to gain the upper hand. Seeing none of the others step in, Lucy made moves to break the two of them but was quickly stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about them; they do this all the time, it's never sincere. They'll be the best of friends again by tomorrow." Erza laughed, stepping in and separating the two of them with a degree of practiced ease that left Lucy wondering just how often that she had been forced to break up fights between the two.

Regardless of how often it had happened, the moment that Erza stepped in all hostilities stopped dead just as quickly as they had begun. Both of the boys looked almost sheepish as Erza wagged her finger disapprovingly.

The rest simply laughed, wisecracking at the two boys until Erza turned her eye onto the rest of them. Even half drunk and swaying slightly, it was easy to see just why it was that Erza commanded such respect amongst her adoptive siblings. She was terrifying, her glare sending chills down the Blonde's spine.

Yet in as little as a minute, things were straight back to normal again with drinks flowing aplenty and all transgressions completely forgiven. To any outsider they were a most bizarre group of people, but for all their oddity, Lucy couldn't help but love it. They all seemed to be so cheerful in each other's company and completely void of inhibitions. To the blonde it seemed as though they didn't care where they were or what they were doing, just so long as they were with their family.

It sent her back into memories of her life with her parents, long before they had passed away. Back then it had all been so much simpler, the three of them were always together; going hiking or playing board games when it rained. It wasn't until she had lost them that the full gravitas of it became apparent and she realised just how big a part of their life had been. To see them all sharing in such close bonds with one another, the likes of which she had once shared with her parent hit her harder than she could have expected. A hard lump formed in her throat and a solitary tear rolled its way down her cheek.

"Hey Lucy… is everything okay? What's wrong?" Natsu asked from beside her as the others all laughed around them. He positioned himself directly in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. His previously playful disposition was gone and replaced by one of concern. Lucy simply

"Yeah, I'm fine… It's nothing really, just a memory from a long time ago, of my parents." She replied quietly, surprised at just how shaky her voice sounded.

Seemingly picking up on it, Natsu took an unsteady step forwards and held his arms out to her. Despite every part of her being telling her to shy away, and that she didn't know him; but whether due to the powerful emotions within her or the alcohol in her system or maybe even a combination of the two, she found herself leaning into his chest.

He was hot to the touch, just as he had been outside on the balcony, it was a good and comforting warmth. It chased away the pain of her memories and calmed her as nothing had before. His fingers delicately traced circles again the skin of her bare back, giving her something to focus on and bringing her back into the moment again.

"I don't know what it is that upset you, but you don't need to feel bad. You're with the fairy tail folks now, and we are all here for you if you need us because that's what friends do. They look out for each other just like family." Releasing her, Natsu clinked his glass against her own with a wide grin. With the words he had said still ringing in her ears, she finished the last of her drink and turned back to the party with him. All around her were new friends, all of them had accepted both she and Juvia with more or less open arms.

Thinking back, she would always miss her family and lament the loss of those happy days spent together, but inside something clicked. She smiled to herself as a whole new world seemed to open up at her feet. The times that she had spent since her parents had passed had been the hardest of all, but perhaps that was because she was afraid of living. Here in front of her was the chance to finally start again. And she would be damned if she was about to pass up that chance.

* * *

 **Well there is part two. Once again I apologise for the delay, but I do hope you have enjoyed it now it is here. As always, please do follow, favourite and review. All reviews help me improve my work and I do read them all. The next chapter should be coming along relatively soon, depending on how inspired I end up feeling throughout the process. I have a few university works I need to do by the end of the coming week but i will try my hardest to get some chapters written. Anyway, that is all from me so as always; I'll see you all in the next chapter.**

 **TheFlagshipArkos.**


	3. The Future Becomes the Present

**Hello everyone and welcome back for another chapter in my first Fairy Tail piece. This one was a bit of a pain to write the various character's perspectives and try to gauge their reactions to the arising situations. However, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out (even if a couple of segments are a little clunky). Anyway, that's enough from me for now; I hope you enjoy the third installment!**

* * *

Lucy woke up the next morning with the worst headache that she had ever experienced. Her head was pounding and she was beyond thirsty. Opening her eyes, she stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She was lying out on a soft bed and covered by a light duvet. Snoring peacefully beside her was Juvia, a thin trail of drool running from the corner of her mouth and onto the pillow beneath her face. Laying there for a long while, she tried to kick her brain into action and remember the previous night's events, or even how she had ended up in the bed in the first place though she was met only with limited success.

With a slight groan, Lucy sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She yawned gently, stretching her arms out wide and shaking her limbs free of the grip of the previous night's rest. Looking around, she frowned slightly as she noticed that the room that they were in was not Juvia's. In fact, they weren't in Juvia's apartment at all. Listening carefully past the sound of Juvia's breaths, she could hear the faint sounds of movement beyond their room. To her it sounded like plates hitting a table and pans clattering against a stove top.

Climbing out of bed, she shuffled over to the door and through the door. She stepped deftly around her shoes from the previous night, which had at some point been thrown haphazardly to the floor. Moving as quietly as she could, she opened the door to the bedroom and slipped out into the room beyond. Two things hit her almost immediately; the first was the smell of fresh bacon and eggs, and the second was the numerous bodies laid out on the floor in various states on undress and surrounding by mounds of empty bottles and cups.

"Morning Luce!" Natsu said cheerily, greeting her as he came into the room carrying two plates stacked high with bacon, eggs and hash browns. He set them on the living room table alongside mountains of freshly buttered bread. Once the food was in place, he made his way around the room, nudging awake the various sleeping lumps on the floor. They came to with a collection of groans, looking around blearily but otherwise, not really moving at all.

Natsu himself had at some point change out of his clothes from the night before and was now stood in a baggy pair of pyjama pants and long-sleeved grey t-shirt with black sleeves. Across the front was emblazoned the word 'fire'. Wrapped around his neck was the same scarf that he had been wearing the previous night. Once again, it was a strange combo but seemed to suit him in a peculiar way.

"Hey Natsu…" She said slowly, struggling to form words past her parched throat. "How… what happened last night, how did Juvia and I end up in there?"

"Oh, well it got real late last night and everyone was pretty drunk so we decided that they all should just kinda crash here. When we all finished up last night, the guys kinda just picked a bit of floor and slept there. There was one hell of a brawl for the couches but Erza put that one to rest pretty quickly." At this, he gestured to a distinctly hungover Erza, laid out on the couch amidst a collection of cushions from throughout the room. "We wanted to make you guys comfortable since we were all pretty new to you so I gave up my room for you guys to sleep in." He replied with a smile.

Before she could so much as utter a word of thanks, he had disappeared back through to the kitchen, leaving Lucy alone for a long moment until he returned with a glass of water and a pack of aspirin. He held it out to her and she took the glass from him with a quick smile of gratitude, though she left the aspirin. Raising the glass to her lips, she drained the water in two or three gulps, enjoying the cooling relief as it soothed her dry throat. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she sighed contentedly.

"I really needed that, thank you Natsu." She said after a long moment, glad to hear that her voice had returned to its normal state with the introduction of a little water; though in her mind she didn't doubt that she would likely need a whole lot more water before she would be completely back to normal again.

"Anyway, now that you're awake, Gray just finished up making breakfast. There's plenty of it so help yourself." He told her cheerily before leaning in closer with a sly expression. "If I were you though, I would dig in before the others wake up properly. They can demolish a whole platter of food like crazy and I don't want to see you go hungry because of them."

As he turned away to head back into the kitchen, Lucy could have sworn that there was a touch of colour blooming across his cheeks. It seemed to match his hair in a bizarre way which served to compliment his look.

She watched him go until he passed back into the kitchen and out of her sight again. Once he was gone, she made her way over to the table. Along the way she stepped around a sleeping Elfman and Lisanna. The two siblings had fallen asleep cuddled up close together, Elfman's arm wrapped protectively around his sister. In a way Lucy couldn't help but find it cute to see them like that, it was a whole new side to Elfman that she hadn't seen the previous night due to his slightly overbearing, 'manly' bravado.

Scooping up one of the plates from the stack on the table, Lucy helped herself to a generous serving of the breakfast foods as well as preparing a plate for Juvia. Sitting herself on one of the few couches available to her, she dug into her breakfast. The spread may have been limited but it more than made up for it in quality. Each and every morsel was cooked to perfection. The bacon was crispy but not too dry, and the eggs were gently cooked so that the yolk burst forth at the slightest provocation even if only to be mopped up by the awaiting hash browns. It was perfect.

Just as she was settled into her meal, the various people around the room stirred and came to life, following the smell of freshly cooked breakfast in the hopes that it would help to rid them of their hangovers. Much to Lucy's surprise, Natsu hadn't been joking. Within mere moments of having found the platters of food, the numerous hungry people had picked them clean. Each person returned to their little sleeping spaces and sat down to eat with ravenous enthusiasm leaving only crumbs behind.

Lucy chuckled to herself seeing the way in which they all behaved. None of them seemed to be particularly concerned with their manners and instead focussed on getting the food into their bodies in the most efficient manner as was possible. Behind her, Lucy heard the sound of the bedroom door opening and turned to see a sleepy looking Juvia emerge from the bedroom. She was yawning widely behind one slender hand and idly rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the other. In all it was quite a cute sight to see.

"Good Morning Juvia!" Lucy said with gusto, waiting for her best friend to come and sit beside her before passing over the modest breakfast that she had saved prior to the folks of Fairy Tail waking up. Juvia gave a grateful nod before slowly nibbling at the corner of a piece of toast. Clearly Lucy wasn't the only one feeling the effect of their previous night.

Getting to her feet, Lucy gathered up her plate and glass and carried them out into the kitchen. The room was all alive with a flurry of movement. Both Gray and Natsu shifted from one counter to the next in a seamless fashion, each man working in perfect harmony with the other as they tended to the cooking food and the dishes in perfect harmony. It was as though the two of them were engaged in a dance to which they both knew every step by heart and acted as though it were second nature.

Catching sight of her, Natsu swept over to her and took both the plate and glass straight out of her hands without so much as breaking his rhythm. Spinning away he worked his way to the sink and had washed the plate before Lucy had even managed to work out quite what was going on. A fresh glass of water was in her hand a mere moment later before Natsu was back to tending a pan full of sausages.

Lucy stood in the doorway for a long while; sipping at her water, admiring the whir of motion in front of her and savouring all of the wondrous smells drifting from the multitude of pans that the two cooks had on the go. It was enough to make her mouth water, despite having only just eaten a full meal. As she stood there, she allowed her mind to be swept away in the scene ahead of her as she watched everything that the two boys did.

After what must have been ten minutes or so, Gray served up another mountain of food and carried it out to the hungry masses were still sprawled out in the living room making their best attempts to recover from the night before. This left Lucy to watch only Natsu as he worked to keep the kitchen running; but without his partner, the magic simply wasn't there. One guy can only do so much, after all, and despite his best efforts it seemed that Natsu was quickly becoming overrun. Retying her hair, Lucy took a step into the kitchen and gave him her best smile.

"Hey Natsu, you look like you're having a bit of a hard time. Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked with a confident grin playing about her lips.

"Yeah, the pan with all the sausages in it needs tending. If you could just turn the sausages every now and again I'd really appreciate it. I don't know where the Ice Princess got to, but when he gets back I'm gonna kick his ass for leaving me alone with all of this." The pink haired cook replied. Even though he was grumbling away, the smile never seemed to fade from his face, nor did the fire in his eyes diminish. To Lucy it seemed that Natsu was incapable of any kind of emotion besides his usually cheerful demeanour.

Giving him a nod she dashed to the sink and quickly washed her hands before turning to the stove. Grasping the tongs that Gray had left beside the pans, she set to work on turning the sausages, before long they were sizzling away nicely and browning evenly on all sides. Finishing his work with the dishes, Natsu came over to check on the foods that Lucy was tending. Leaning over her shoulder with his face only a couple of inches away from hers, he nodded his approval.

"Nice job Luce! They look really great! I think you have a talent for this kinda stuff." He chuckled. Lucy blushed as she felt pride bloom in her chest at his remarks. A flash of confusion crossed her mind as she found herself wondering just why it was that her cheeks had flushed a delicate tinge of pink. She dismissed it as being a direct result of the heat coming from the stove, she concentrating on tending to the food and preventing it from burning. After all, it was only natural to feel a touch of pride at Natsu's comments. He was an incredible cook and had offered praise for her help… yeah, that had to be why.

* * *

Juvia groaned gently to herself as she felt her head pound and her stomach churn. Internally she vowed fervently to never, ever drink so much again so long as she lived. Every slight movement sent new waves of nausea through her body and threatened the return of what little food she had been able to stomach. Catching glimpses of Lucy dashing around in the kitchen with Natsu, Juvia couldn't help but feel seething envy. The blonde seemed completely unimpeded by the effects of the previous night's festivities.

Before she had chance to dwell on it, a tall glass of water appeared over her left shoulder. Taking it gratefully she turned around to find Gray standing over her with his usually impassive expression on his face. Moving around to join her, he took the seat beside her and stretched out with a contented sigh.

"It was a great night last night huh? I mean it got pretty crazy." He chuckled, shooting her an amused smile.

"Yes, it was really fun. Juvia didn't stop smiling all night; it was the most fun that Juvia has ever had! Thank you so much for inviting Juvia and Lucy." Juvia replied with a warm smile before cringing as her body made her pay for her enthusiasm with another dose of nausea.

"You're welcome. I hope this means we can see you guys more often and hang out. I mean all the folks here really loved meeting you, me and Natsu included. It's almost like you're one of us now. Hey uh… are you alright?" He asked with a touch of concern in his voice. Reaching out to her, he tenderly placed a hand on her bare shoulder in what was presumably meant to be a comforting gesture. Though the moment she felt his touch, she recoiled with a surprised yelp. His hands felt like they were literal ice, just the memory of it sent chills racing down the length of her spine.

Worriedly, she looked at him with apologetic eyes praying internally that she hadn't offended him. But Gray didn't seem to mind; rather he simply laughed and edged away from her a little.

"Sorry, my hands are always pretty cold. I didn't mean to surprise you like that. The look on your face though, it was priceless." He managed to say between fits of laughter. Juvia's face turned a new shade of red as she pouted playfully at him. She was glad that he hadn't taken exception to her actions and made a mental note to try and avoid a repeat occurrence should the situation ever arise again.

"Juvia is sorry, she was caught a little by surprise is all… a-and Gray's hands are so cold that it was a little bit of a shock." She replied, astonished to hear just how small her voice sounded. Before she could say any more though, she felt her stomach lurch. Climbing to her feet and breaking into a dead sprint, she shot off towards the bathroom at lightning speed.

* * *

Lucy patted her friend gently on the back as the two of them, accompanied by Gray and Natsu, made their way through to the apartment door. When Gray had returned to the kitchen with news that Juvia had fallen ill and had been in the bathroom for half an hour, she had known that it would soon be time to leave. Despite the fact, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that the party had finally come to a close.

Thanking their hosts and uttering a quick goodbye to all of the Fairy Tail folks, Lucy made to help Juvia across the hallway and into the safety of her own apartment so that she might recover. Taking tentative steps, Juvia led the way and Lucy began to follow when she was stopped by a gentle but firm grip on her arm. Turning around, she found Natsu's signature smile. An odd sensation crept up her arm that she couldn't explain until she looked down and found its source. The rose haired boy had a pen in hand and was marking out a series of numbers all up her forearm, finishing before she could utter so much as the slightest protest.

"There!" He said with a touch of pride. "I thought you might like to hang out again sometime, this way we can stay in touch and let you know when everyone is next getting together." He grinned. Seeing that and hearing his reasoning, all outrage or indignation within her died away in an instant. A slight blush bloomed over her features as she nodded her understanding. Turning away she caught up with Juvia and helped her friend across the hall and into her miniscule apartment beyond.

Once they were inside and the door was shut, Lucy guided Juvia through to her bedroom, helped her change into a set of pyjamas and tucked her into bed with a cool glass of water at the bedside. All the while the blonde pondered on the past couple of days and laughed. It all seemed so surreal and a stark contrast to her life beforehand that it was as though she had woken up from a long dream and started living again.

Having seen Juvia home safe and sound, the blonde gathered her things and took her leave. Heading out of the apartment she travelled down the stairs and into the nearest cab to take her off to the little coffee shop. Internally a part of her hoped that the sporadic opening hours over the past week wouldn't affect her customer base too badly.

* * *

"So what do you think of them?" Gray asked with a cocky smirk as he picked up the hundredth empty bottle and stuffed it into the black rubbish bag he was carrying. Natsu looked over at him and uttered a slight groan; he knew that smirk and knew that it could mean nothing good.

"They seem really cool, and the others seemed to really like them." He answered, hoping that this might mean an end to it. Alas, it was not to be the case.

"Oh come on, you and I both know that that isn't quite what you think. You wouldn't have given Lucy your number if it was. I mean we can always get the message out through Juvia since she lives down the hall. But you… you went ahead and gave her your number; there must be a reason why…"

"I don't know what you mean. I thought it would give her a bad idea of us if we only spoke to her through Juvia, I mean we don't wanna come across as bad people do we?" Natsu replied defensively. He didn't like this, not one bit. Gray was like a shark that had caught the scent of blood in the water and was circling round for the kill. It was evidenced by the look on his face at that very moment. The Ice princess had ceased all efforts to collect last night's debris and was simply stood staring expectantly at his roommate.

"Ugh! Okay, I admit it. Lucy is… well she's really cute. And she seems like a really nice person. I just thought I test the waters a little and go from there. It's no biggie…" The pink haired man continued, cracking under the pressure. Frustration at being caught in Gray's trap had frayed his nerves and served to wipe the smile off of his face. It just didn't make sense, why did Gray have to push it like that? It wasn't like it was some huge deal, just maybe meeting up for food or a movie sometimes perhaps. The idea sent a warm feeling across his face. Knowing that it could only mean trouble he flailed around for something, anything, to shift the attention away from himself.

"Well, what about you and Juvia? You two seemed pretty friendly at the party; I don't think I ever saw the two of you apart last night!" Natsu blurted out at last, launching a counter-attack against his friend.

"What about it? She didn't know anyone at the party so I was there to make sure she was comfortable is all." The stoic replied coolly.

"Oh yeah, the two of you looked real comfortable…"

"Watch it flame brain." Gray warned.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen."

That was the fuse which set off the charge. In an instant, fists and insult were flying freely and all of the progress that they had made towards cleaning the place since the last of their friends had left was undone. Bottles flew as the two squabbled and the apartment itself seemed to shake from the might of their bickering and Erza was nowhere to be found to resolve things between the two of them. It was business as usual as the sun set through the balcony windows across a cityscape bathed in the ruddy glow of the day's dying light.

* * *

Lucy arrived back at her home and heaved a sigh, closing the door behind her and blocking out the world. Work at the coffee shop had been beyond hectic with Juvia recovering at home and no-one else to help out around the place. It only served to further reinforce the need for hiring additional staff. She had been working flat out all day to serve the droves of increasingly agitated customers, uttering the same apology over and over again in an attempt to mollify them.

" _I'm so sorry for the delay, but my only other member of staff is off sick today. I really do appreciate your patience."_

The words repeated themselves over and over in her mind as she slumped into her living room and collapsed face down on the couch. Her feet ached and her back was so stiff that it had long since become difficult to move. She could only hope that the following day would be a little easier, and that Juvia would be able to come into the shop and help out. Another day like today had been, and Lucy wasn't sure if she could handle it.

Moving to bury her face in the crook of her arm and completely blot out the world, she stopped, once again seeing the series of numbers all up her arm. A smile spread across her face as she remembered them, having been so busy at work that she had forgotten all about Natsu giving her his number. Reaching into her bag, she rifled through it until she found her phone. Retrieving it, she unlocked it and hastily added the rose-haired man as a contact. Opening up a new message she was about to begin composing her first message to him when a wave of uncertainty crossed her mind; just what was she going to say?

She lay there on her couch, staring at the glowing phone screen in front of her. Her thumbs hovered over the phone's keyboard and yet she typed nothing. The message had to be just right; not too desperate sounding and not too cold. She wanted to make a favourable impression, so as not to seem too off putting. Her cheeks turned red in the dim light of her phone's screen as she realised just how silly she was being. Just why was she so nervous about it? He was only a guy, and she had only met him the once, so why did she feel like it was so important?

She groaned and set her phone aside for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and allowing her thoughts to wander. Yet no matter what her mind drifted to, it always came back to Natsu. He appeared in her mind's eye with his signature grin and the usual playful look in his eyes. What was wrong with her? She barely knew even the slightest thing about him but still her mind seemed to fixate on even the smallest of details that she had come to notice, every single one of his quirks, not to mention his eyes. So dark and mysterious…

Shaking her head to rid it of such thoughts, she scooped up her phone and hastily tapped out her message. It was coming purely from impulse but at the moment that was all that she could actually muster. Her mind was blurred and unreliable so her instincts were all that really remained to her.

' _ **Hey Natsu; It's Lucy. Thanks for having Juvia and I over for the party last night. It was really fun, if a little crazy. I really hope that we can hang out again soon, maybe with Gray and Juvia too? Hope that you guys are okay and that your apartment wasn't totally trashed. The guys from Fairy Tail sure know how to party!'**_

She read over what she had written for any glaring errors before hastily hitting the send button and throwing her phone aside with a sigh. It was done and out of her hands, the ball was firmly in Natsu's court now. She just hoped he wouldn't see it as being really impersonal.

* * *

Natsu unlocked his phone and stared at the screen for what felt to be the millionth time but was again disappointed to see that there were no new messages. Sighing, he threw it aside again and tried to focus on the apartment's modest TV. There was really nothing on but he was willing to watch pretty much anything to take his mind off of Lucy. When he had given her his number he had hoped to hear back from her in a couple of hours, but it had been nearly a full day and she had been playing on his mind ever since. What if he had creeped her out or put her off completely? It was all entirely new territory for the usually hyper-confident man.

"She will text you when she can, I'm sure she's just busy at the moment. I mean she had to take care of Juvia earlier and I'm pretty sure that she said something about having to get to work today. You'll just have to be patient." Grey sighed from across the room. At first he had let it slide, but after nearly two hours of Natsu repeatedly checking his phone and groaning every time, the stoic's patience had begun to wear a little thin.

"But Gray, it's been hours! You don't think it weirded her out do you? Like, you don't think I scared her off? Maybe I should have been a bit more… subtle?" Natsu whined, checking his phone yet again.

"Believe me Natsu, if you had scared her off it would have happened way before that, probably when you tried breathing fire at the party. From what I can tell, she seems pretty to think you're pretty cool, but that's just my guess, I mean I have just about as much experience dealing with this stuff as you. I mean there was that brief fling with Daphne but the less that's said about that the better…" Gray replied before heading into the kitchen to retrieve a beer from the fridge. The mere memory of Daphne was enough to settle a sense of unease across his chest.

Natsu remembered Daphne all too well, from her weird dress sense to her overbearing and controlling nature. It seemed really lucky that Gray had managed to escape more or less unscathed, and that was even with Erza and the rest of Fairy Tail's help. Daphne had been the only person that Natsu had ever seen to genuinely scare Gray. His thoughts passed to Lucy, and he couldn't help but wonder whether the blonde could ever be like that. Staring at his phone, he shook his head. Lucy and Daphne were nothing alike.

Where Daphne had been overbearing and arrogant, Lucy was sweet and relatively modest. The two couldn't have been more different. Daphne had always caused an incredibly uneasy feeling in Natsu's chest, whereas Lucy only left him feeling oddly calm and cheerful. In the time that they had spent together, he had found himself smiling almost incessantly in a way that he never really had before. Even the more estranged members of his odd little family had noticed it, and teased him for it mercilessly from the moment of Lucy's departure until they had all departed for their own homes earlier that day.

Before Natsu could dwell on his thoughts anymore, his phone lit up and vibrated against the soft cushions of the couch he was sat on. Snatching up the device at the speed of light his dark eyes frantically scanned the lines of text displayed on the screen as an ever growing smile played about his lips. Running out to the kitchen to find Gray, he dashed through the doorway and nearly crashed headfirst into his housemate. Gray shot him his usual scowl and quirked an eyebrow, demanding an answer. Natsu's only response was to hold his phone up and display the message to his housemate. Gray squinted at the message for a couple of seconds before his expression changed to an easy smile.

"See, flame brain? I told ya she would get round to it eventually. She's even suggesting hanging out with you again sometime soon." Gray chuckled, before stepping past the pink haired ball of enthusiasm and heading back into the living room.

"Not just with me Gray! You and Juvia too! You gotta help me come up with something for us all to do. I'm hopeless with this kinda stuff!" Natsu whined, following after his roommate and still holding out his phone.

"You think I'm any better? Just pick somewhere nice that you can take her and that you think that she will enjoy. I'm sure that whatever Lucy enjoys, Juvia will too. I mean the two of them seem practically inseparable."

"But I don't know any places like that… I mean I barely know the city, the only place around here that I know I love is…" Natsu paused mid-sentence as a bolt of inspiration dawned on him "Gray that's it! We can take them over to Fairy Tail!"

"What… why would we…?"

"Think about it! All the places that we would hang out as kids; the fields, the trees down by the river, everything! It's real pretty out there and it'd be a really cool place to show them. We can even introduce them to the guys out there!" The pink-haired wonder explained, listing his examples using the fingers of his left hand.

"I mean… I guess it could work, and we could go see the others out there. Are you sure that they would like it though?" Gray replied, a somewhat sceptical look in his eyes.

"Well, they liked the guys when they met them here last night, and they both seemed happy to hear about everything that happened when we were growing up. I guess this way we can show them all the places we would go when we were kids."

"Alright, we'll take them out to Fairy Tail. You let Lucy know and I'll head over tomorrow and ask Juvia along." The stoic conceded. He supposed that it wasn't a terrible idea, and it would present the opportunity to spend a little more time with Juvia getting to know her on a one to one basis, since Natsu would undoubtedly want to run off alone with Lucy for a while.

* * *

Gray lay in bed that night with his heart pounding in his chest. He hadn't wanted to show it in front of Natsu, but the reality was that his nerves were playing up at the mere idea of asked Juvia out with them that weekend. In many ways, Natsu had it easy. It was much easier to send a message through and ask someone out that way, but to actually ask someone to their face was a whole other ball game; especially when that someone looked like Juvia did.

Over and over in his head, Gray tried to work out the best way to ask her but no matter how hard he tried, all of the methods that he came up with seemed stupid or juvenile. He thought about just coming out with it and asking her plainly, with no frills or playing around, but that just seemed like it might intimidate her or put her off. From what he had seen, Juvia seemed to be quite a shy girl, so charging in with all guns blazing was pretty much the opposite of what he should do.

Groaning to himself, he rolled over and buried his face in a pillow. Closing his eyes he forced his mind to clear itself. This kind of thinking wasn't going to get him anywhere, especially not when he was tired. Resigning himself to thinking more about it in the morning he allowed his fatigue to envelop him and carry him off to sleep; although even in sleep he wasn't completely free as thoughts of Juvia swam around in his dreams, as did the issue of actually asking her out for the weekend. It was an unavoidable hurdle that he would have to rise and face, and one which he would be sure to meet head on.

* * *

Lucy's eyes snapped open as her phone went off next to her head. She had been dozing peacefully since she had sent her text through to Natsu, deciding that sleeping would be better than brooding over every little detail of what she had said. Retrieving her phone and unlocking it she was met with a new message from Natsu. A tight feeling settled on her chest as she opened up his message to her and scanned the lines of text that he had sent her;

' _ **Hey Luce! You're welcome any time. Sorry about that, the guys are pretty crazy when we all get together in one place, but I'm glad it didn't scare you off! They all thought that you and Juvia were pretty cool. The apartment was all good once Gray and I got it all cleaned up, though it kinda took forever to get done. Anyway, we were thinking that this weekend, we could all get together and head out of town a ways, Gray and I have somewhere that we think you and Juvia will really might get a little dirty, so dress for the outdoors! Gray's going to ask Juvia tomorrow, so keep it on the down low 'til then. You in?'**_

Lucy read the message a couple of times over with a puzzled look. She was relieved that Natsu seemed to be so eager to hang out again soon, but the vague nature of his message left her curious and hungry for answers. Where was it that the boys were going to take them that she would need to dress for the great outdoors and why was it so secret? Either way, Lucy felt that it was an opportunity that she couldn't afford to pass up. Quickly typing out her confirmation, she sent it back and set her phone aside once more.

Heading through to the kitchen, she fixed herself some food and ate quickly. Once she was finished and the dishes were done, she made her way through to her bedroom and got ready for bed. As she climbed beneath the sheets, she pondered the mysterious day out that she had ahead of her that weekend and just how she would manage the coffee shop if both she _and_ Juvia were going to be heading out of town for the day. Her opening ours were already pretty erratic since the boys had come into her life, and she knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. But for now, she didn't think about that. All she was thinking about was the adventures that the four of them would be getting up to in only a few days time.

* * *

 **There you have it. I hope that you enjoyed it and that it wasn't too rigid. I wanted to try and really get the ball rolling for the main overarching plot line, for both Natsu and Lucy as well as Gray and Juvia. Next chapter will hopefully be a little more light-hearted and fun. Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say for now. I truly do hope that you enjoyed it. As always, please don't forget to favourite and follow if you would like to keep up to date with the release of the new chapters for this story. Please do review and let me know what you thought, I do read all of your comments and try to act on them where possible, in order to improve the experience of you, the readers.**

 **That's all for this installment. I hope to get started on the next chapter as soon as my schedule allows and hope t have it ready within a couple of weeks. As always, I'll see you all in the next chapter.**


	4. An Adventure Begins

**Hello everyone and welcome back. I'm afraid that this chapter proved all kinds of difficult to write both in terms of getting its pacing right as well as actually finding the inspiration to put words on the page at all. Finding time between revision and working my job also proved to be quite a difficult prospect too. In truth I'm still not entirely contented with it, but I believe it to be ready for publish. I certainly hope that you all enjoy it.**

* * *

Lucy was relieved when she saw Juvia pass in front of the coffee shop's front windows and make her way inside. Releasing a breath that she didn't know she had even been holding, the blonde waved cheerfully to her best friend and co-worker. Though she was loath to admit it, Lucy had been concerned that Juvia would still be recovering after the party and so, unable to make it into work. The very idea of being left alone with a tide of impatient customers for the second day in a row was not one that Lucy was too keen on considering, so to see Juvia looking like her usual self again was more than a little comforting.

"Juvia is sorry about her absence yesterday. Juvia hopes that it wasn't too bad for Lucy." She said shyly, refusing to look Lucy in the eye. "Juvia shouldn't have drunk so much at the party. It won't happen again."

"Really it's fine Juvia. I drank just as much as you did so don't you worry about it. The main thing is that you're here now. Honestly, I just missed having you around. This place just didn't feel the same without you." Lucy replied with a warm smile, making her way around the counter to rest her hand's on Juvia's shoulders.

At this Juvia looked up at her friend with a smile of her own. Nodding slightly, she pulled away and set about tying back her flowing blue locks so that they were out of the way. Donning her apron, she took up her usual place behind the shop's modest counter and waited for the first customers of the day to arrive for their morning caffeine fix. As it turns out, they didn't have to wait very long at all. Within the hour, they had a queue of customers stretching from the counter right back to the door. It looped around the shop's tables, a few of which were occupied by those whom were less pressed for time.

Lucy and Juvia fell into their usual patterns, serving one customer after another with a degree of practiced ease that bespoke the length of time that they had been working together. It wasn't until just after one that the lunch rush began to recede. Hearing the bell above the door ring, Lucy turned back to the counter ready to take the order from the next customer when she was met with a familiar face.

Erza stood in front of the blonde, dressed in a white frilled blouse and black trousers. On her feet she had a set of beat up old shoes that seemed to be made more of polish than leather. Yet perhaps the strangest thing that the redhead wore was the look on her face. In complete contrast to the confident woman that Lucy had met at the party, this side of Erza looked nervous and almost certainly out of her comfort zone.

Lucy stared at her quizzically for a few long moments before her memory kicked in again. She had completely forgotten about inviting Erza in for a trial shift for the barista job. Internally she kicked herself for having let something so important slip her mind. Coming out from behind the counter, Lucy let her more professional side take over as she offered her hand out to Erza. The redhead looked at her hesitantly for a moment before shaking it with a smile.

"Hello Erza, I'm sorry about that. It had completely slipped my mind that you were meant to be coming in today. This place can get pretty hectic." She laughed before turning to Juvia. "Juvia, I'm just going through to the back for a few minutes to have a chat with Erza. You gonna be okay out here on your own?"

"Juvia will be fine, take as long as you need." Juvia answered, shooting Erza her best reassuring smile. Nodding to the rain-girl, Lucy led Erza through into the coffee shop's small staff room. It was a relatively cramped space that her parents had fitted more as an afterthought than anything else. It had a single stack of lockers, a modest table and crude cooking space with a microwave and sink installed. In truth, the place was rarely used since there was never the time for a proper break. Though with luck, Lucy hoped that was soon to change.

Taking a seat on one side of the table, Lucy awaited for Erza to do the same. Having sat down, Erza produced a résumé and offered it to the blonde. Taking it, Lucy gave the document a quick read, paying particular attention to the work history listed upon it. Erza had worked in several waiting positions at a number of different companies as well as having worked for one of the larger coffee companies in Fiore, an over qualification for working in Lucy's little coffee shop. Her hobbies were, however, the most intriguing thing about her. The résumé listed them as fencing, athletics and gymnastics; all three were sports that Lucy had considered but never actually tried, deeming them to be either too dangerous or time consuming.

"Well Erza, looking at this it would seem that you are more or less exactly what I'm looking for. If it's alright with you I just have a few questions that I would like to ask you before we get you out there to have a go at serving some of our customers. Is that alright?" Lucy said after a lengthy pause to read through the remaining pages. Hearing this, Erza's apprehension seemed to lift and a subtle smile came out onto the redhead's face/

"Yes, that's fine. Please do ask away." She replied, interlocking her fingers and resting her forearms on the edge of the table.

* * *

Lucy was impressed, very impressed indeed. She could only watch in amazement as Erza dashed around behind the counter in a flurry of steam and coffee grounds that left Juvia standing out of the way and wondering just what to do. Her résumé hadn't lied, the redhead certainly knew her way around behind the counter of a coffee shop. Despite the complicated nature of Lucy's special drinks recipes, Erza seemed to take them all in her stride without any issues at all; and then there was Erza's style of service.

The redhead practically exuded confidence as she worked, teasing and playfully flirting with the customers as she prepared their beverages. She treated them all as though she had known them for years, building a welcoming atmosphere for all that stepped up to the counter. Where parents had come in with their children she spoke to the kids as though they were equals, winning over the hearts of the young and old alike.

By the time that the trial shift had come to an end, Lucy was almost disappointed. Behind the counter, Erza had made coffee into an art form and for that to come to such an abrupt end was quite a shame. As Erza came out onto the shop floor and began to remove her apron with the aim of giving it back, Lucy stepped over and stopped her with a warm smile.

"No need to give it back. After seeing that, as far as I'm concerned, the job is yours. That is assuming that you would still like the position?" This time it was Lucy's turn to wear the hopeful expression. Erza looked at her for a long moment, wide eyed before closing the gap and wrapping the blonde in a tight hug that left Lucy gasping for air. Behind the counter, Juvia applauded cheerily and welcomed the redhead to their little team.

"Thank you Lucy. I promise that I won't let you down. I'll be the best employee that I possibly can be." Erza whispered into the blonde's ear.

* * *

By the time that Lucy pushed open the door to her apartment she was completely exhausted, though at heart she felt content. In all it had been a very productive day both in terms of her businesses takings and her hunt for new employees. After the trial shift, Lucy had taken Erza aside to discuss the sort of shift patterns that she would be interested in taking up. It had taken around an hour but by the time that they were finished it was a real weight off of Lucy's shoulders. To see her modest little team growing was a rewarding thing indeed and she didn't doubt that Erza would prove to be a real asset to their little group.

' _Of course I'll still need to put ads out and take on more staff, but for now, Erza will do just fine.'_ Lucy thought cheerfully to herself with a happy smile on her lips. Though that smile soon faded as her thoughts turned to the upcoming weekend and her trip out with Natsu, Gray and Juvia. At first she had simply acted on impulse in her acceptance, but as time had gone on, she found herself at a loss with what to do with the coffee shop for the day. In the past her social life had been nigh on non-existent, so she had never really had to juggle going out with the running of her business. It left her with a dilemma to which she could only see two solutions; either closing the coffee shop for yet another day, or leaving Erza on her own to run the place for the day.

Leaving it open with Erza at the helm was certainly an option, especially given just how capable the redhead had proven herself to be, but Lucy felt as though it was far from an ideal option. Erza was the newest member of the team and despite her experience, Lucy couldn't help but feel that it was a little unfair to expect the redhead to work alone at a new job on the first weekend; and on the busiest business day no less. Lucy sighed, knowing that the only remaining option was to close the shop for yet another day. But that was hardly a good idea either, with the number of days recently that the shop had been closed, Lucy risked driving away some of her customers through unreliability and that was completely out of the question.

Groaning to herself, Lucy knew that really there was only one option left available to her and that was to cancel on the boys in favour of running the shop. Juvia would still be able to go with the boys, but Lucy didn't see herself as having any other choices. With a tight feeling in her chest and disappointment gripping her heart, she picked up her phone and began to compose a message to Natsu.

' _ **Hey, Natsu. I'm really sorry but I don't think I can make it this weekend. When I first agreed I didn't really stop to think about what I would do with the coffee shop, at least not properly. We took Erza on today but Saturday will be her very first weekend with us and I don't think it would be very fair to leave her alone in the place on our busiest day. Juvia will still be able to make it, but I can't. Could we maybe reschedule? I'd still love to hang out with you sometime.'**_

Reading through the lines that she had written literally crushed Lucy's spirit. It seemed at first to be a bit disproportionate a reaction given just how short a time that she had known the boys, but it had represented one of the first proper outings that Lucy had been offered following her parents' deaths and she had been really looking forward to it. So it was natural that she should find Natsu's reply quite confusing, given how jovial it sounded:

' _ **You hired Erza? That's awesome! I know that she will do great there, but hey, don't feel like you have to cancel on Saturday. I know that you're all worried about your shop but trust me when I say that with Erza, you don't know just what you've got. When we were growing up she was like magic, no matter how many chores she got or how much homework Gramps gave us, Erza was always the first to finish. She was like some kinda robot built to do everything at lightning speed. If you leave her in there alone she will be just fine I promise. She won't just finish the shift; she will probably find time to clean the whole place from top to bottom. Ask her yourself if you don't believe me?'**_

Lucy stared perplexed at his reply for several long minutes. Was she really considering going along with it? It seemed a completely irresponsible scheme, no matter how trustworthy Erza had seemed. Surely as the business owner, Lucy had a duty to oversee Erza's work, at least for the first few shifts? But quite unbidden and independent of her thoughts, she opened up her phone and selected Erza in the contacts.

' _ **Hello Erza, it's Lucy. I know that we only just organised things today and that you are still really new to the business but I have a huge favour to ask. Natsu and Gray want to take Juvia and I out of the city this Saturday and I want to ask whether you will be alright manning the shop on your own. I wouldn't normally ask but you seem to really know your way around the coffee machines and Natsu says that he thinks you could handle it, so I want to know what you think about it. If you're not comfortable just say, it's really no problem.'**_

Her thumb hovered over the send button for a long moment as her doubts played out in her head one last time. This was beyond unorthodox and well into the realms of madness. Who in their right mind would trust their business to someone that they had only just met? But then there was Natsu, he appeared in her mind's eye with his honest eyes and bright smile, and for some reason she felt that she could trust him, that he wouldn't do anything that might let her down. She felt herself blush at the image her rogue imagination had conjured and so, with one final sigh, she hit send.

The reply was almost immediate and left Lucy reeling, had the redhead just been sat waiting for the message to come through? The redhead's message gave new meaning to the phrase; 'wall of text' and left Lucy wondering whether or not Natsu had forewarned the redhead or called in some owed favour long forgotten. But that didn't matter to Lucy as she read the text on display; the tone of Erza's message was blunt, but seemingly sincere.

' _ **Lucy,**_

 _ **Don't worry about me; I can handle the shop for the day. I have every faith in my ability to complete the day's service to your satisfaction regardless of what or who happens to come into the shop. The customers shall learn a new meaning to 'excellent service' while I'm there. I promise that I won't let you down.**_

 _ **You simply must go with Gray and Natsu. If they have planned what I suspect they do then I must insist on your going. I hope you won't mind, but I have already taken the liberty of informing Natsu that your weekend plans together can go ahead as planned, and that I will be covering the duties in the coffee shop.**_

 _ **I know Natsu and he has been unusually excitable since the party and I think that you are at least in part to responsible for that. So you and Juvia should go with the boys, I know that you'll have a wonderful time together. It would disappoint them both so much if you were unable to make it, Natsu especially.**_

 _ **It will be quite an adventure. You can tell me all about it when you return.**_

 _ **Erza.'**_

Lucy felt her face warm up as she read the final paragraph over for a second time. Just what was Erza implying, and would Natsu really be that disappointed? He had certainly seemed quite keen when he had suggested it to her but she had simply attributed that to being the poor conveyance of feeling by text. Either way, it didn't truly seem to matter. Rather, what _did_ matter was that despite the few reservations she still held, Lucy was free to join Gray, Natsu and Juvia that weekend and that was something that she really couldn't wait for now, especially with Erza making such a fuss of it.

* * *

Gray tugged at the collar of his shirt yet again, his whole body felt like it was burning up and the collar seemed as though it were about to choke the life out of him. It was a far cry from what he would usually wear. More often than not he preferred to keep them open at the front to let his body breathe, but he had decided that it might give off the wrong impression when it came to asking Juvia out for the weekend.

Taking one last breath and steeling his nerves, he rapped his knuckles against the door of Juvia's apartment and waited for the few awkward moments before she answered. Beyond the door she could hear the sounds of hurried movement as Juvia dashed about to get to the door. Hearing the latch go, the door swung in ever so slightly and Juvia's head came into view. She looked at Gray for a quick moment before a tinge of colour came flooding to her cheeks, the door opened swiftly to reveal her standing there in short shorts and a pyjama top, decorated with a cartoon of a little blue cat with wings. She shuffled nervously, frantically trying to bring her hair under control and giving him a shy smile that only served to exacerbate just how hot under the collar that he was already feeling.

"Hello Gray! Juvia is sorry for her appearance, but she just got in from work." She tried to explain. Gray only stared at her for a long moment before snapping back into reality and dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's your home, dress however you feel comfortable." He chuckled. "Besides, I won't keep you long. I just had something I wanted to ask you."

Juvia's breath hitched and her hands ceased their fussing amidst her blue locks. Cerulean eyes locked with Gray's own as she eagerly waited to hear just what he had to say. Was he about to finally ask her out? Was this it? Though she had only really met the man a few days ago, the time that they had spent together had been bliss for her and though she may have denied it to Lucy, Juvia had considered the prospect of asking Gray out for a date on more than one occasion since the party.

Gray could feel the flock of butterflies in his stomach go crazy, having stirred themselves into a complete frenzy. He opened his mouth to speak but a hard lump formed in his throat, choking off his ability to breathe. His chest felt tight and breathing became difficult as memories of Daphne flowed back into his mind.

"I-I… I mean Natsu and I…" He managed to croak "We… well, we were wondering if you'd want to come out with us this weekend. Lucy has already said that she is coming along, and we were really hoping you would too… I would really like it if you could…"

The last bit was barely more than a whisper, but Gray was sure that Juvia had heard. She stood in the doorway staring at him with a look of disbelief. Her mouth flapped open a few times but no word came out. Her answer first came in the form of a shaky and somewhat uncertain nod.

"Juvia would like that a lot." She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "W-where is it that we are going?"

"Really? That's great!" He cheered with a grin. "I- Well I can't tell you where we're going 'cause we really want it to be a surprise. But Natsu said to warn you to dress for the great outdoors. Just head on over to our place for ten on Saturday morning."

Juvia nodded her understanding and Gray took his leave. Once he heard the door close behind him, he released a shaky breath and laughed to himself. His heart was pounding and his breathing was ragged but he had done it. He had asked a girl to hang out with him. Well; him, Natsu and Lucy. Though it wasn't a date, was it?

* * *

Juvia stared at door for several long moments as her brain tried to process what had just happened. She ran the events over in her mind again and again to be certain that she hadn't misinterpreted anything, but each time she did it seemed to confirm her initial theory. Gray Fullbuster, her new and rather attractive neighbour had just invited her out for the weekend. She squeaked with delight and dashed through the narrow hallways of her apartment in search of her phone. Snatching it up off of its cradle, she hastily dialled out Cana's number and waited impatiently as the phone rang.

When Cana answered, Juvia immediately began telling her exactly what had just transpired, speaking at a million miles a minute as the excitement of it all took over. It was a full ten minutes before she managed to calm down sufficiently to stop talking and let Cana finally voice any kind of reply.

"See, I did tell you that things would change. The cards never lie." The fortune teller's voice was practically dripping with smug pride, so much so that Juvia could visualise the signature smirk plastered across her face.

Not that Juvia minded. If anything, it had only served to further boost her faith in Cana's readings. She almost felt bad for having been so sceptical of what the cards had said, and vowed to come up with some kind of thank-you or apology present for her friend. Thanking Cana once again, Juvia hung up and ran through to her bedroom wherein she threw open the doors to her wardrobe.

Frantically and with ceaseless fervour she looked through all of the clothes that she had, sorting them into a series of 'maybes' that she could wear for that weekend; she groaned audibly, missing Lucy's guidance. Despite her nerves at picking the right outfit, Juvia's joy was boundless. Humming a merry tune, she picked through the various outfits that she had set aside until she found one that seemed both suitably stylish and robust. It was a long black overcoat with a white fur trimmed collar. There was a matching hat upon which she had affixed a vibrant butterfly pin that a friend had given her long ago. Setting it aside, she matched it with a pair of high leg, brown leather boots. They were well worn and slightly scuffed but they were more than suitable for whatever outdoors activities the two boys had planned for the group.

With her outfit set, she closed her wardrobe door and crossed the bedroom to the calendar hung up on the wall. It was composed of a variety of photographs of winged cats in numerous scenes. Their wings were pure white like an angels, and never failed to cheer her up. Taking up the red marker she hung with it, she circled the Saturday of their outing and crossed out the current day. A smile crossed her face at seeing just how few days there were to go.

Heading through into the kitchen, Juvia fixed herself some dinner for the evening. She hummed all the while as she cooked, dancing from place to place in her tiny kitchen, swaying to a rhythm that only she could hear. The food she prepared was modest but she didn't mind it, after all she would get to spend a whole day in Gray's company, and that was perfect as far as she was concerned.

Outside her window, the deluge of rain slowed yet again until it was little more than a fine mist falling gently from the heavens to the earth.

* * *

By the time that Saturday came around, Lucy was all aflutter. Her apartment was alive with motion as she dashed around frantically trying to gather everything that she would need. To her it seemed as though everything that could have gone wrong, _had_ gone wrong. She had woken up late and had to rush through getting ready, struggling to tame her golden locks into something at least half way to being presentable. Then, she had spent near ten minutes desperately trying to find her phone before finally locating it again with a hefty sigh of relief.

By the time that she stepped out her front door she was running very late indeed. She had texted ahead to warn the others that she might be arriving a little behind schedule, as well as to apologise profusely for the fact. Even as she sat in the taxi on her way over to meet up with the others Lucy struggled to relax. She checked her phone every thirty seconds, half-expecting to see some text from Erza telling her that everything had gone wrong and that the shop was in dire need of back-up, feeling guilty every time the thought crossed her mind.

Lucy had spent the two days that Erza had been working for her teaching the redhead what to do in the event of just about every conceivable problem. It had been intensive and perhaps a little overbearing, but Lucy wanted to make sure that everything would be taken care of in her absence; a fact that Erza seemed to understand and approach with the patience of a saint. As it was she still felt a little guilty for leaving Erza on her own only three days after having taken up working in the little coffee shop. No matter how many times the redhead had smiled and reassured her that it was all under control, Lucy just couldn't quite bring herself to fully believe it.

Her concerns were all swept away however, when the door to the boys' apartment opened and Natsu met her with his characteristic grin. In fact it took everything that she had to contain the flood of colour attempting to rush to her cheeks. Smiling in return, she made her way into the apartment and through to the living room. There she was met by Juvia and Gray, both of whom were sat on one of the couches and chatting animatedly.

As Lucy made her way into the room, the two stopped their conversation and turned to meet her with warm smiles and cheery greetings. Even Gray had a smile on his face for once, the usual frown having been evicted for the day in favour of a jollier demeanour.

"Hey, you made it!" He said with a slight chuckle, climbing to his feet with Juvia following soon after. "Now you're here, we're all set. If you're ready we can get going."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm so late. Literally everything went wrong this morning; it felt like the universe wanted to stop me from getting here!" Lucy replied, turning to give Juvia a quick hug. She was surprised to find that the girl was physically shaking with pent up excitement.

Gathering up a couple of large bags between them, Natsu and Gray led the way out of the apartment, pausing only to lock the front door behind them. The four of them boarded the elevator and took it right down to the apartment block's parking level where the two boys led the way over to an older model of car.

The vehicle had definitely seen better days as patches of dirt and rust marring the car's paintwork. As for what colour it had originally been, Lucy could only hazard a guess. Though the two boys looked at their car with pride and treated it more as an old friend than a vehicle on the verge of breaking down. Lucy and Juvia both handed off their bags for Natsu to load into the back, and got into the car. Surprisingly, the seats were still soft and more comfortable than they had any right to be. The interior was clearly well looked after and rigorously clean, a clear contrast to its outward appearance.

Settling into the back seats, the two girls waited for Natsu to join them. Shortly after the rose-haired male climbed in and turned his key in the ignition. In only a second, the car's engine surged to life and was purring away smoothly.

"Heh, it may not look like much, but it's got it where it counts. We call it Igneel." Natsu said, turning round to face them with a cocky smirk.

"He means that _he_ calls it Igneel." Gray explained with a sigh.

Rolling his eyes, Natsu disengage the parking break and coaxed the old car into motion. The adventure had begun and neither of the girls could wait to find out just where they were going.

* * *

The journey was longer than Juvia had anticipated and the ride was far smoother than she might have expected from such an old car, but she didn't really mind it. It was just as Natsu had said; Igneel really did have it where it counted. It actually felt like they were floating rather than simply rolling along the uneven and pot-holed streets that made up Magnolia's sprawling metropolis.

Once they left the city though, things drastically improved. The scenery changed from one of the concrete jungle to something far more serene and tranquil. Skyscrapers were switched out for towering woodlands and housing estates became rolling fields of wheat and barley just ripe for harvest. Even with the lightest mist of rain falling, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

All along the way and in between bouts of staring awestruck out of the car's windows, the two girls whispered amongst themselves. Neither of them could possibly fathom just where it was that the four of them were headed to. In fact it was only when they turned off down a narrow country lane that they found out.

The road twisted and turned, with two large hedges bordering it on either side; impenetrable walls of thick green foliage. After they had travelled along for a few hundred yards the hedges fell away and gave way to open meadows, bordered by simple wooden fences. Flowers of all colours bloomed in the fields as well as plants of all different varieties.

Beyond even those sat their destination and it truly took their breath away. A huge building sat at the end of the lane, its three floors formed tiers getting progressively smaller as they went. Each floor had an oriental styled sloping roof and the uppermost tear was topped with an elegant dome that shone through the rain. Columns held up the lower most roof and angled windows dotted the walls of each floor save the top. There hung a large banner marked up with a peculiar symbol, an emblem of sorts. As they reached the end of the lane, they passed beneath a wrought iron arch upon which was emblazoned the words 'Fairy Tail'.

Both girls' jaws dropped in shock, immediately making the connection. _This_ was where the two boys had grown up?! It seemed incredulous that such an elegant building in the middle of nowhere served to house orphaned children, though in a way Juvia was glad. Both the building itself and the surroundings would undoubtedly have made for a wonderful place in which to grow up. There was so much space for the children to play both indoors and out and vast expanses of land to explore and have adventures in.

* * *

Lucy was still staring at the buildings in awe as their car pulled up and came to a stop. Was this really the place that Natsu and Gray had grown up? Getting out, she made her way around to the back of the car and retrieved her bags. The rain was coming down in very fine droplets but she didn't even notice; she was far too busy taking in the beauty of her surroundings for something as minor as rain to distract her.

Natsu led her up to the main doors with Gray and Juvia following close behind. Climbing the steps onto what was the single largest porch that Lucy had come across in her life. As they stepped out of the rain, the two large doors swung open and bathed them in a warm orange light from within. In the doorway was a tall young woman with white hair and an easy smile. Beside her was a little old man with a balding head and a limited shock of white hair, he too bore a subtle grin.

"Hey Gramps, we were hoping that you'd be here!" Natsu and Gray both chirped fondly, each stepping in shake the diminutive old man's hand in turn. Lucy turned to Juvia so as to gauge her reaction, only to find that Juvia had already stepped forward to greet the two by name, something which seemed to have caught even Natsu and Gray by surprise.

"Hello again Mirajane, Makarov; Juvia trusts that you are both keeping well." She said with a smile, shaking Makarov's hand and lightly hugging Mirajane. Seeing Lucy's confusion, Juvia quickly explained. "Juvia met them on the bus one morning on her way to work."

Lucy just stood in silence; unsure of what to say or even if she should say anything at all.

"Mirajane is actually Lisanna and Elfman's older sister. She grew up with us all way back when, though these days she helps look after Gramps and keep Fairy Tail running." Natsu explained with a wave of his hand before turning to Mira once again. "Hey Mira, we brought these two here to show them around and meet some of the younger ones, are Wendy and Romeo around?"

Before Mira could answer, there came the hasty patter of footsteps even as two more people rocketed out of nowhere. One, a young boy of around fourteen, tackled Natsu to the ground without a second thought whilst the other, a young girl about the same age, stood beside Makarov with a shy smile.

"Well hey Romeo! Were you listening in again?" Natsu laughed, before extricating himself from Romeo's grip and climbing to his feet, in one swift motion he swept Romeo up and perched the boy atop his shoulders. Romeo was a cheerful looking sort with wide eyes and a bright grin affixed to his features. He was dressed in such a way that seemed oddly reminiscent of Natsu in so far that all of his garments were mismatched and quirky.

The girl, whom Lucy presumed to be Wendy, was quite the opposite. She seemed much shyer and more reserved. She was dressed in what appeared to be a dress of hand woven cloth. Her hair was a shade of midnight blue and flowed freely over her shoulders, and in her arms held closely to her chest was a white cat. At first Lucy had thought it might have been an inanimate ball of fur before she saw its ears and the way in which its body gently rose and fell with each breath.

Lucy smiled as Natsu introduced the two and cordially shook their hands. Wendy in particular seemed thrilled at the opportunity to meet the two older women and soon came out her shell to introduce them to the cat that she held.

"Her name is Carla, she was left on our doorstep as a kitten. She's been my best friend ever since, isn't that right Carla?" In response to Wendy's question, the cat looked up at the people all around them, yawned, blinked lazily at Wendy and promptly went back to sleep. Wendy giggled and gently scratched behind the cat's ears.

"She's so cute!" Lucy cooed, leaning in to caress the creature's fur.

"Let's get in out of the rain for a while before any of you catch cold." Mira said softly with a hint of maternal concern. The girls nodded gratefully and stepped in out of the rain, the boys following closely behind with happy expressions. To the blonde there was something about their surroundings that made her worries fade away and her stresses dissipate. It felt homely and safe, welcoming to all and exclusive to none. In a way it felt like a homely feeling that she had been longing without knowing it. In her mind there was only one word to describe Fairy Tail; magical. And Lucy couldn't get enough of it.

* * *

 **So there it is, the latest installment of the tale. I certainly hope that you all enjoyed it. If you did, please do favourite and follow. I try to keep them updated at least once every couple of weeks or so. If you feel like it, drop me a review or PM and let me know what you thought of the chapter and the story so far. I read them all and do try to shape my style of writing each time to make the chapters better and more in depth. Anyway, that is all I have to offer for this time.**

 **Thank you all for reading and as always, I'll see you all in the next chapter.**


	5. Romanced in a World of Wonderment

Lucy couldn't remember ever having laughed this much before in her life. It seemed that scarcely more than a few seconds could pass before another set of giggles would pass her lips, and there were no prizes for guessing just why that was; Natsu. The rose haired man had half-led and half dragged her through the entirety of the Fairy Tail building, showing her all of the places he would play as a kid and telling her story after story to accompany them.

To any other girl it might have grown annoying as he spoke over and over about himself in the various stages of youth, but not Lucy. The blonde had been swept away in the magic of it all, eagerly absorbing each and every story that Natsu was willing to share. With each one he told she could glean little details about him as a person; from his chronic motion sickness in any vehicle that he wasn't driving, the numerous brawls that he had enjoyed with the various other children in the orphanage, and the hundreds of adventures that he, Gray and Erza had gone on that were only limited by the extent of their cumulative imaginations. He had long since captivated her, leaving her thirsting for more knowledge about him.

In some ways she felt guilty for not interjecting with some details about her own childhood, but he seemed to be so excited that she couldn't bear the thought of cutting him off. Besides, in comparison her childhood seemed frightfully dull. The only highlights that she could recall were the occasional visits to the beach whenever her parents could get the time away from their little coffee shop and spend some time together as a family. So she let him go on, listening and laughing at all of the silliest things that he had gotten up to.

Finally, he pulled her into one of the rooms towards the front of the building, one with a huge window looking out over the lengthy driveway. It was a view that took her breath away, overlooking the rolling fields and multitude of meadows that ran right back to the main road. The room itself was fairly simple, containing only a small single bed and a chest of drawers. A small stuffed dragon lay on the bed, resting by the pillows and looking like some child would come running in at any moment to pick up the toy and take it off to share in some grand adventure. The walls were decorated with flames that had long since faded until what had once been vibrant reds and oranges became much more subdued.

As they entered the space, Natsu walked in as though he were stepping into some kind of dream that he couldn't help but remember. The floorboards creaked under his feet as he made his way over to the window. One of his hands rested on his scarf, his fingers slowly running over the threadbare fabric. He stood by the window, staring out and lost deep within himself. It didn't take long for Lucy to realise that this room had once belonged to a young Natsu and was probably still in the exact same condition as it had been the day he left.

"This was your room wasn't it?" She asked. Her voice was oddly quiet as she sought to confirm what appeared already to be fact.

"Yeah." His answer was uncharacteristically blunt and he didn't turn away from the window. "It was from this window right here that I watched as my dad left. He told me it would just be for a little while, that I was gonna see him again real soon. He never came back."

As he spoke, Lucy felt her heart break. Images of a young Natsu watching his father go appeared in her mind, bringing a slight tear to her eye. She couldn't imagine how he must have felt when it had happened.

"That was the seventh of July, over fifteen years ago. I was just five when he left. Every day I would stand right on this spot and watch the road for hours, just waiting for his beat up old car to pull onto the drive and for him to come up to the house and get me. But it didn't. After a long time of waiting, the others came along; Gray, Erza, Lisanna and the others. They sorta became my family and Gramps became the dad I had always wanted but never had."

Lucy couldn't help herself. With tears streaming down her face she stepped towards him and locked her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder and held him tightly, even as soft sobs shook her body. It all seemed so unbearably sad, but when she looked up at him, he wasn't crying and he didn't seem bothered by it at all. He just had that same smile on his face and the familiar fire burning in his sage eyes.

"Don't cry Luce, It was all so long ago. I may never forget it, but who wants some deadbeat dad when they could have the best family ever? My dad walked out, but I know that Gramps and Fairy Tail never will; they're always gonna be there for me until the very end. And now, they're gonna be there for you too. I mean, if you want us to be?"

She didn't say a word, not trusting her voice to hold steady, but inside her heart swelled unbelievably. Ever since her parents had passed, there had been a void in her life; it was a kind of loneliness that nothing had ever truly managed to fill. In a way it seemed fitting that she would be adopted by Fairy Tail, after all, she was an orphan of sorts and had nothing in the way of family. With a slight smile creeping across her lips, she nodded and buried her face in his chest again. The tears still streamed down her cheeks but they weren't sad, rather they were cheerful. She had found the very thing that she had been unwittingly searching for. She had found a home.

* * *

Juvia followed on with a contented smile as Gray led her all around the place in which he grew up. The rain still fell outside, coming down in delicate sheets that swayed this way and that at the behest of the breeze. It was the ideal weather to be inside, feeling more as though they were in their own world, completely separate from the true realities around them. To her it was like walking through a dream, so much so that she feared to close her eyes for even a second lest she wake up and it all turn out to be a figment of her imagination. As far as she was concerned, that would have equated to a fate far worse than death.

Gray didn't seem to notice her trepidation, or at least if he did then he did not make mention of it. He seemed to be in his own little world, glad to finally have someone with which to share it all with. Of course he had dated before, but his previous partners had never been interested in seeing the place in which he was raised; they had simply lacked in the desire for adventure.

"Daphne was never as excited as you are when I offered to bring her here. She seemed to think that it was all too much of a bother, or just too boring to be worthy of coming along." Gray said, surprised to hear him mention his ex-partner unprompted. Internally he panicked, knowing that it was a major party foul to mention one's ex on a date. Yet Juvia didn't seem to mind, either that or she hid it well, for instead of the hurt that Gray expected, she bore a pained expression that told of an underlying sense of empathy that none of his previous partners had shared.

"How could they not be? This is the place that Gray grew up, and the place that helped make him who he is today. To not understand or see the cause of such a thing, how can they ever truly understand Gray as a person?" She said after a long moment, proceeding with caution and clearly choosing her words with a degree of care.

Hearing what she said, Gray felt his heart skip. How was it that in the space of a second, a girl whom he had never met before only two weeks previously, had come and seized his affections with such ease? He stood in silence, looking at her intently. His grey eyes locked onto her cobalt ones with such intensity that it felt as though he was staring at her very soul. She shifted slightly, showing her nerves and cursing herself internally for feeling so shy all in a moment.

Standing opposite her, Gray wanted to retreat into himself as he always had, terrified of getting hurt again. He could feel himself growing more attached to the blue haired girl and it terrified him. Yet despite what every single one of his instincts were screaming at him, he simply refused to allow it to pass him by. Juvia was not Daphne; she was all that was good in the world, honest and kind and caring. He was convinced that she was the very kind of girl for which he had been searching for so long.

He felt his hands clam up at his sides as he fought with the tempest of thoughts in his head on just what he was supposed to do. It was all new territory to him. Daphne had always been the one to take the lead in his previous relationship, and judging from Juvia's character, that wouldn't be the case here. He gazed at the girl stood in front of him, admiring the depth in the colour of her eyes and the manner in which they were accented by her hair. She shifted nervously under his watch, reaching up to take a strand of hair and wind it around one of her slender fingers.

Taking a shaky breath, he shuffled ever so slightly closer. Her eyes locked with his in a look of slight confusion. He took another step, feeling a peculiar sort of confidence bubble up in the pit of his stomach. Another step brought him chest to chest with her. She looked up at him as her eyes widened in realisation for what he was doing. Biting her lip, she slowly leaned in even as he mirrored her actions. Gray's heart was pounding in his chest as their lips drew steadily closer to one another until finally, they met.

His hands travelled to her waist as they kissed, resting upon her hips. Her arms wrapped around his neck as the softest of moans escaped her lips, bringing a bright blush to Gray's cheeks. They kissed for what seemed an eternity, but was only mere minutes. As they pulled apart again with their lungs burning for air, he locked eyes with her and offered a smile. She returned it in kind, resting her head against his chest and listening to the rapid beating of his heart.

"Look, the storm's breaking." He said, his chest rumbling as he spoke.

Looking up, she saw that he was right. The two were stood by one of the building many windows, through which she saw that the rain had indeed come to a halt. From behind a thick patch of angry grey clouds, the sun emerged shooting rays of golden morning light throughout the sky, bathing the two of them in both radiance and warmth. Her breathing hitched as she saw that which she had been hoping to for many a year; the sunrise.

Leaning her head back against Gray's chest, she looked out the window and savoured the warmth of the sun's light on her pale skin. It was everything that she could ever have dreamed of, so beautiful and bright and full of hope. Perhaps even more so, she had been able to share the moment with Gray. It seemed like fate, as though he had brought a measure of light and warmth into her life which had previously seemed so dim and cold. It was the dawning of a new day in her life.

* * *

"Come on Lucy! You've gotta come see this!" Natsu cheered from up ahead.

The moment that the rain outside had broken, Natsu had set off at a jog through the house and out the door. Lucy followed on as quickly as she could, struggling to keep pace and dodge the puddles as best as she could. In the back of her mind, Lucy wondered whether Juvia had seen the sun come up; knowing that she would appreciate it more than most.

Natsu led the way along the side of the grand house and over a stile into a neighbouring field. Lucy followed, lamenting as the plants brushed against her legs and transferred what remained of the rainwater onto her. By the time that they reached the edge of some woodland she was soaked through and shivering slightly in the chill breeze. Natsu led her up a slight hill and into a clearing that overlooked fields of barley as far as the eye could see. The stalks were golden and shaking lightly with the wind, all while the sun shone brilliantly overhead in clear defiance of the clouds. Sitting himself down on the rise he waited for her to join him.

Lucy walked over in awe of the natural beauty arrayed in front of her and took a seat beside him. She still shivered but could no longer feel the cold, her whole attention having been stolen by the view. Even as they watched, a rainbow shimmered off in the distance where the last dregs of the rain still fell; a splendour of colour that took Lucy's breath away.

"See? I told you that you had to see this." He smirked, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders in an effort to ward off the shivers. "Erza, Gray and I used to come down here all the time in the summer and watch the sun go down. Gramps used to get real mad when we came back late and missed dinner."

Lucy smirked a little at the stories and wrapped his jacket tightly around herself. Leaning over with a contented smile, she rested her head upon his shoulder and settled in to admire the view. The warm scent of his aftershave permeated the fabric of his jacket, reminding her of cold winter nights spent by the fire. It was a pine and spice kind of smell that blocked out the damp scent of the world around them.

* * *

Red hair swirled in her wake, creating what looked to be a blazing trail behind her as she worked. Customers marvelled at the new barista and seldom took their eyes off of her. For Erza it was a fantastic feeling to see the smiles appear on the faces of her customers whenever their drink appeared. She had long since turned the sale of coffee into what was almost a new style of dance as she flowed from one order to the next without missing so much as a single step.

At heart, she wanted to do well for her new boss, to thank Lucy for the opportunity and ensure that the aftermath of her date would be as stress free as possible. But the reality was that she liked the atmosphere; the little coffee shop was a calm place in which its customers could feel at ease and take a break from the stresses of the day. That made for a wonderful environment to sit in, and an even better one to work in.

Yet her day took a turn that none of them could have foreseen. As mid-afternoon approached and her shift began to wind down into the quiet hours of the early evening, a gentleman entered the little café as many had before him. Yet this one in particular caught Erza's attentions the instant he appeared. There was something oddly familiar about him in a way that she just couldn't place, it was as though she knew his name, but couldn't place his face.

He was of middling height with a peculiar head of midnight blue hair. His face was one which showed the result of too many late nights burning the candle at both ends and was covered in a light dusting of stubble. Under his right eye he had an odd tattoo, a mystical looking design in red ink. He approached the counter with a shuffling step and spoke without looking up from the tiled floor underfoot.

"Uh, one coffee; to-go please." He said in a tired voice. "Black and as strong as you're allowed to make it."

She nodded and shot him a quick smile before quickly grinding fresh coffee, tamping it down and setting it into the machine to brew with one of the café's branded takeaway cups underneath to catch it. As it did, she collected one of the accompanying sleeves. With a marker, she drew a quick smiling face on the sleeve and hoped that it might bring some cheer to this man's life.

With the coffee brewed, she collected it and popped it into its sleeve before handing it over the counter with a napkin. Looking up for a moment to offer payment for his beverage, the man caught his first glimpse of the barista and stopped dead. His jaw dropped a little and a sense of comprehension dawned in his eyes. In a voice scarcely above a whisper he uttered one word.

"E-Erza?"

In that moment, his voice triggered a memory that had lain all but forgotten within the deepest recesses of her mind. Her eyes widened a little as countless thoughts, feelings and memories came flooding through her head.

"Jellal?" She asked dumbfounded, merely confirming what she already knew.

"It really _is_ you!" he answered with a hint of shock in his voice. "How have you been, it must have been what; Ten, fifteen years?"

"Something like that…" She replied curtly. She was a little unsure of how to handle the developing situation.

"Well I uh… I'm a little busy at the moment but if you'd like I can pop by a little later and we can catch up over a couple of drinks once you're done here?"

She stood in silence for a long moment and simply looked at the man before her. In her mind she tousled with his question and debated whether or not it would be wise to take him up on his offer. It certainly seemed not, and yet so much of her life had changed lately for the better, perhaps this was simply another positive shift? Either way, she deemed, it was worth the risk.

"That sounds good. It would be nice to catch up with you. I finish here at six, if you would like to meet me here?" She answered, choosing her words carefully.

"You have a deal, I'll drop by to meet you here and we can head off into town." He said with a clear look of excitement rejuvenating his eyes. "I'll see you at six."

Paying for his coffee he left a generous tip in the jar and headed out of the coffee shop and into the evening air again. She watched him go with a faint smile before returning her attentions to the running of the coffee shop. It wouldn't do to get sloppy now, after all.

The hours of her shift seemed to melt away in the blink of an eye as she worked, accompanied by a myriad of smiling faces that helped ease the growing discomfort in her legs from the prolonged period for which she had been on her feet. But despite it all, when at last the final customer of the day left the shop and the door was locked, Erza simply collapsed into one of the chairs with a tired sigh. A satisfied smile remained on her features despite the fatigue that was evident in her eyes.

After the aches in her legs had eased off a little she dragged herself back to her feet and set about completing the closedown work. She wiped off the steam wands and cleaned out the coffee machine with practised ease. Once her critical eye was satisfied that not so much as a speck of dirt remained, she hung up her apron and gathered her belongings before heading out the door.

Her eyes scanned the street for any signs of Jellal, and to her surprise she found him leant against a wall just beside the little café. He greeted her with a weary smile and offered her a steaming cup of coffee and a brown paper bag with '8 Island Patisserie' emblazoned across its crinkled surface. She eyed him with a raised eyebrow before taking the foodstuffs off of him with a nod of thanks.

"I thought that after working so hard all day that you might like a quick bite before heading out, you know, something to pick your spirits up a little?" He offered as way of explanation.

Opening the bag she found within a small clear plastic carton in which was the most pristine looking piece of strawberry cake that she had ever seen. A slight twinkle appeared in her eye as she looked upon her favourite baked treat. With an expression of reverence she took it out of the bag and opened up its container, savouring the sweet scent of sugar and strawberries in delicious harmony. Taking up the small plastic fork contained within, she took a small bite of the cake; it was positively euphoric.

"I'm glad to see that some things never change." Jellal chuckled, watching her intently for signs of approval. Satisfied that his gift to her had been well received, he gestured to a modest car that was parked up at the curb side outside the coffee shop. Opening the door for her he let her in before walking around to driver's side and climbing in.

Erza continued to eat her sweet in quiet contentment, savouring each and every bite. Ordinarily she wouldn't have eaten using plastic utensils, being thoroughly convinced that cake was best enjoyed off of silverware. It was a belief which had led to her purchasing a number of dessert sets crafted from fine silver for the express purpose of enjoying the best strawberry cakes that Magnolia had to offer, but for a cake as fine as this she was willing to make the exception.

Jellal drove them a short ways across town before pulling up out the front of a modest looking pub. It was a smaller timber framed building sat between two average sized apartment buildings and at first glance, appeared to be a little out of place. Hanging from old iron fittings was a worn and faded sign depicting the establishment's name; 'The Dragon and Child'. The calligraphy of the sign wasn't much to be impressed by, but the artwork itself certainly was. Despite its age and the colours having faded under both sun and rain, the painting still showed a vibrant blue dragon and beside it a helpless looking blonde child. It seemed the complete juxtaposition between brutal power and helpless innocence and Erza couldn't help but marvel at it.

Finishing her cake she disposed of its packaging along with her now empty coffee cup before following Jellal inside. The interior was well lit and quite cosy. Besides the usual broad benches for larger parties, there were a number of comfortable armchairs set into small alcoves within the walls as well as a pair flanking a large fireplace, in which burned a number of aged cedar log that gave off a pungent and heady aroma. Behind the bar and inundated with a variety of regulars stood the landlord himself. He was a rotund man with a magnificent handlebar moustache and a reddened face. Looking over at the newcomers, he flashed them a warm smile before returning to his never ending task of satiating the parched string of customers. In all, Erza was quite fond of the place. It held a welcoming atmosphere that gave the impression that no-one could ever be unwanted there.

Leading her over to the pair of chairs beside the fireplace, He took a seat in one and waited for Erza to join him. He shed his jacket and leaned forward to warm his hands beside the fire. Erza sat down opposite him and found herself pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the chairs were. She too shed her coat and warmed herself by the fire.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I know that it has been a very long time since last we saw one another." He said after a few minutes, breaking the silence that had settled between them.

"The last time I saw you was the day you were adopted, I watched you drive away up the lane not knowing that I wouldn't hear from you again." She replied, feeling the sting that such a pained memory brought to her.

"I know and I really am sorry that I never got in contact. After I got adopted my whole life turned upside down. My parents were pretty strict on me and between studying, chores and my new friends I lost sight of Fairy Tail." He answered, surprising her with just how upfront he was willing to be.

"I guess that's to be expected; you had a new family after all. But we never forgot you." She replied, somewhat bitterly. Taking a breath, she continued with a wry smile "Though I must admit, I didn't expect that bright-eyed little boy to grow up to look so haggard and worn out."

Internally, she cursed herself for having sounded so angry. It surprised her to know that she was still harbouring such feelings over wrongs some fifteen years old, but to see him again had sent her mind racing back to those days long passed. Sighing softly to herself she tried to clear her mind, perhaps it was time to move on and start afresh. After all, following their chance meeting, he had seemingly wanted to try and make what amends he could.

"A result of my work. Too many late nights and no-where near enough sleep." He chuckled, pulling her back out of her deliberations.

"Just what is it that you do?" She asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Well, I'm trying to start up my own investigation agency; 'Crime Sorcière'. Usually its quite simple cases, just wives wanting evidence of their cheating husbands or parents trying to find out if their kids are involved with a bad crowd, nothing too dark really. We are a fairly small organisation at the moment, just the three of us, but I hope to expand in the coming years."

The hours melted away between the two of them and drinks passed with pleasant conversation. The passage of time was such that by the time that they had fully caught up on fifteen years' worth of tales, jokes and events, that the fire had burned low and they were the last people remaining in the bar. Apologising to the bartender, they quickly finished their drinks and stepped out into the night air. The two exchanged details before Erza bid him goodnight and began the walk back to her home. It wasn't very far from the bar and only took her around twenty minutes. Once in and out of the cold, she showered quickly and climbed into bed so as to be ready for the following morning. After all, she would have a great deal to tell the others.

* * *

Lucy felt saddened as she climbed out of the boys' beat up old car. Her heart had been heavy when the four of them had left Fairy Tail; she had watched the building pass into the distance as they drove away up the long driveway and back towards the city.

Though she was loath to admit it, she had been hoping that the day could have lasted forever. With Natsu up on their secluded hilltop, the two of them had fallen into their own little world; a world which she had been heartbroken to leave. Even as they drove away, she sat there in the backseat with the pink haired orphan's jacket wrapped around her shoulders. When she thought no-one was looking she would bury her face in the fabric and take in a lungful of his aftershave, savouring its musky pine scent.

She couldn't help but smile when they began making their way up to the apartment and he made no efforts to take his jacket back. She looked over at him quizzically but soon turned away to hide a blush as he shot her a cheeky wink.

Alongside them, Gray and Juvia walked together arm in arm and completely in their own world. Juvia stared up at him with a warm smile permanently affixed to her face. It made Lucy's heart swell to see her friend in such a state of pure bliss. Moving over so that she could walk alongside Natsu, she gave him a quick smile.

"I wanted to thank you… for everything. Today has been so amazing, I've loved every minute of it and so has Juvia. I haven't seen her looking this happy in a long time so… thank you." She smiled, snagging his arm in her own and holding him close as they walked.

"You're welcome Luce, I'm glad ya liked it. I know Wendy and Romeo were super happy to have met you guys. Maybe you'd wanna come back with me sometime to see them again?" He replied, leading the way.

Hearing that, Lucy's heart flipped in her chest. She fought to keep her composure before nodding with a wide grin. "I'd love to! There's so much out there that you didn't get time to show me, and I want to see it all!"

Natsu promised her that he would show her everything in time, and together the four of them made their way up into the apartments. Not long afterwards, Lucy made her excuses and left for her own apartment. By the time that she got home at last, she was yawning wide and thoroughly exhausted. Yet, despite it all, she really didn't mind. To her, every ache was well worth it.

If the day was any kind of indicator, Lucy felt confident in the belief that she was onto something very positive indeed; and she couldn't wait to find out just where her new friendship might sweep her off to. Entering her bedroom, her eyes strayed to her manuscript sat upon a small writing desk and she made herself a mental note to get some work done on it soon, she certainly had a new source of inspiration to work with.

* * *

 **Hello all and many apologies, I completely forgot to post this one and it has been sat in my laptop for quite some time now. I hope that you all enjoyed it and am super sorry for the delay. If you did enjoy please do follow, favourite and review to let me know what you think or rant about the shaky release schedule. Next chapter coming soon I hope so please do watch this space.**

 **As always, I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	6. Explanations

**Hello everyone, I hope that you are all well. I am back with another chapter after what feels like forever, but its finally done and dusted to a level that I think is satisfactory for release. So, here you all are.**

* * *

"And he just turned up out of nowhere after all of this time?" Lucy asked with an incredulous expression. Having heard Erza's tale twice over it still seemed a little hard to believe. The plot seemed to match those cheesy romance novels of which she was so fond, and yet the plotlines had seemingly spilled out into her reality.

"Yes, it was the slimmest of chances but I looked up from the counter and there he was stood there with the same tattoo and that same lost look in his eyes that he had all of those years ago." Era explained, idly serving up a coffee in a takeaway cup for one of the customers stood at the counter.

The blonde went silent for a long moment as she mulled over just what such a meaning could possibly have meant. It certainly seemed as though fate itself was setting up all of the pieces for some kind of bizarre game, wherein they were all the pieces and their very lives could be decided by way of a pair of dice.

"So are you going to see him again?" Lucy asked with a sly look in her eyes, raising one eyebrow suggestively.

The effect was not quite what she had hoped as Erza swiftly shrugged off the suggestion in her employer's voice and continued serving the ever growing line of customers with the same bright smile that she always wore.

"I don't know." She replied eventually, catching her breath as the next batch of coffees brewed. "I haven't really given it all that much thought. We only went out for a couple of drinks to catch up on everything that had happened over the past few years, nothing more and nothing less."

Lucy listened but she didn't quite believe what the redhead was saying. Perhaps it was a woman's intuition but she couldn't escape the feeling that perhaps there was more to it than Erza was willing to let on. The blonde had a gut feeling that this wouldn't be the last that she would hear of this mysterious Jellal, though she decided not to press Erza for any further information.

Working alongside both Juvia and Erza, the day passed in an amicable manner. The usual stream of customers passed through as time wore on. With the exception of a slightly busier lunch rush it was business as usual. Once the shop was closed to customers and the girls had begun their closing chores, Erza finally took the initiative and pressed her colleagues for the particulars of their respective dates.

Lucy told her story with an airy expression as though she was still wandering the halls of fairy tail with Natsu, listening to his stories and delighting in the pleasure of his company. She left out some of the more personal details that he had told her, such as the day he had arrived at the children's home, but otherwise she spared no detail. As she spoke, Erza seemed caught up in the romance of it all, listening intently to every detail and often plying her with questions. When at last she concluded her story it was Juvia's turn.

The rain lady began slowly, seemingly quite shy about recounting the tale; though as she went on that trepidation seemed to melt away. When it came to her kiss with grey, her audience erupted into a combination of shocked silence and excited questioning about every aspect imaginable. Juvia felt herself growing redder and redder in the face as she answered their numerous and prying questions.

The three of them talking delayed their usually quick closing procedure by just over an hour. By the time that they stepped out onto the street and locked the door behind them, they were completely and utterly exhausted. Bidding farewell to the others, she made her way home, dreading the idea of cooking herself dinner and already choosing what takeaway she was going to order in. Her head screamed Chinese but her belly craved pizza above all else. Though as it turned out, neither were to be.

* * *

When she arrived home, she slid her key into the door and let herself in. The moment that she stepped through the door she knew something was off. Soft music drifted through the apartment, a mixture of classical tracks that she knew well. The lights were on and she heard movement coming from her combined kitchen diner. Shedding her coat, bag and shoes, she crept silently through her home in the hopes of catching her intruder unawares.

Her bare feet padded softly against the carpeted floors as step by painstaking step she snuck through. Rounding the final bend in the hallway she peeked around the doorframe and into her kitchen. Her jaw dropped in shock at what she saw.

Her kitchen was utterly spotless, the usual pile of dishes having been washed up and packed neatly away with the exception of two pans which sat on the stove bubbling away contentedly. Her dining room had also been tidied and a black tablecloth laid out, trimmed with gold. A bottle of sparkling rosé wine sat in an ice bucket in the centre of the table, flanked by two tall candles that served as the only form of illumination in the room. The air was filled with rich smells of tender meat and spices, a number of which she simply couldn't identify.

But there in the middle was the culprit. In a dark burgundy shirt and slacks was Natsu. He tended to the two pots, frequently tasting their contents and adding ingredients from a wide stock beside him. His usually wild pink hair looked as though he had made efforts against all odds to tame it. Stepping out from her hiding place she entered the room feeling utterly incredulous.

"Hey Luce!" He called to her without turning away from his work, seemingly having heard her footsteps behind him. She stared at him in disbelief, unsure of what to feel and switching rapidly between surprise, anger and gratitude.

"Natsu… What are you doing in my home? How did you even get _in_ here?" She stammered, finally managing to formulate words. Hearing her reply he quickly turned around to face her, though he continued to stir the pots behind him with a spare hand.

"Don't worry! Juvia gave me a spare key. I figured after yesterday and being at work all day today that you might like a bit of a break. It's not much but I got a really great recipe that you're gonna love. Now hurry up and get changed, it'll be ready soon."

She stared in disbelief as he dodged around her questions in such a casual manner. Despite herself, Lucy found herself nodding sheepishly before leaving the room and heading upstairs to her bathroom to get showered and ready. Her mind was all aflutter with a tempest of thoughts and feelings.

She turned on her shower and waited for it to reach temperature before stepping under the deluge. As she washed herself, she allowed her mind to wander over the current situation and try to take stock of just what was going on. Natsu, the guy she was dating, sort of, was in her kitchen and making food which smelled so good she would have expected it to be served to royalty. He had gotten in using the spare key that Lucy had given to Juvia, though how long he had been there she simply couldn't stay. Certainly long enough to tidy her apartment and cook up a full meal. Just how long _had_ he been there? How much of her apartment had he seen? Had he been in her room?

Hundreds of thoughts flashed through her mind of the innumerable things in her room that she most certainly didn't want him to see. The foremost among them being… Snapping back to reality she quickly rinsed off and darted out of the bathroom, wrapping herself hastily in a towel and shooting into her room at incredible speed. Her eyes darted around in slight relief to see that it was just as she had left it; small piles of laundry on her floor and her manuscript out on her writer's des-

Lucy froze, her eyes growing suddenly wide. She stared at the pile of papers on her desk. That hadn't been where she had left them. Out of fear for her friends discovering it during their visits she always kept her manuscript tucked away in her desk drawer, out of sight. So why was it sat out on her desk in full view and opened up to the last page. There could be only one answer; Natsu must have found it when he was tidying her home, found it and read it all. _That_ had to be why the rest of the room was still untidy! He must have read it all and not had time to finish tidying up. Lucy buried her face in her hands and groaned to herself. No-one had ever read her manuscript.

Hurriedly picking an outfit from her wardrobe, she dressed herself. It was a little black dress that hung to just past her knees with a long slash running up the side to allow both an increased degree of movement but also allowed her to show off her legs. Her hair she styled in a high bun, decorated with a large rose, just as her mother had always done. She hastily applied a little makeup and used a dark red lipstick for a final touch before looking herself over in her full length mirror. Satisfied that she looked presentable, she made her way downstairs again and into the kitchen, ready to confront her unexpected houseguest about his discovery.

* * *

Natsu was just putting the finishing touches to the meal he had prepared, and was getting ready to serve it up when he heard Lucy enter the room. He turned around to greet her and provide and update on the status of their food when his sage eyes caught sight of her and he stopped dead. His jaw hung open and his breathing hitched in his chest as he looked at her; she looked absolutely beautiful, even with the pout on her face and annoyed look in her eyes… just why _was_ she pouting?

He didn't have to wait long for an answer as she strolled right over to him so that they were practically nose to nose and locked him with her deep brown eyes. He stood in silence, unsure of just what was going on and feeling his heart pound in his chest at what must have been double the healthy rate.

"Listen you, did you read my manuscript? I know I left it in my desk and when I went in there just now I found it lying open for the whole world to see." She demanded in a fierce tone, poking him in the chest to emphasise her words.

He backed away and felt his heart drop down to his shoes. He hadn't meant to find it but as he was tidying her home he stumbled across it. He knew that reading it was probably not the best thing to have done but his curiosity had gotten the better of him and the story was so gripping that before he knew it he had finished the whole thing.

"Yes." He admitted sheepishly, hanging his head in embarrassment and shame "I'm sorry Lucy but I was tidying everything up and trying to make it all nice for when you got home. I found it in the drawer as I was going and well I wasn't sure what it was at first but then I read the first couple of pages, and then that became the first few chapters and next thing I know I had finished the whole thing."

Lucy listened to him with butterflies in her stomach. Criticism was the biggest hurdle that any creative had to contend with and this was the first time anyone had ever read her work, naturally she felt a little apprehensive at what he might say; though as he stammered through his explanation, she found herself pleasantly surprised.

"Y-you read the whole thing?" She asked in disbelief, raising one eyebrow sceptically.

"Yeah…" He answered, rubbing the back of his head. Despite his overall sheepish demeanour, his eyes never once left hers. The longer that she looked into those swirling sage pools, the more convinced she became that he was telling the truth.

"Well… what did you think?"

"I loved it! Everything from the depth of the characters and the detail in your description; in every page it is so easy to see the love that you poured into every aspect of your storytelling. I loved the plot and the drama…" He launched into a full review of her work that sang her praises at every turn. The sheer enthusiasm with which he spoke almost matched that with which she had written it. As he spoke she felt her face going redder and redder until she was convinced that a passer-by might have mistaken her for a tomato with legs. The tight knots in her stomach unwound and her fears melted away at hearing her work so well received. She felt as though she were on cloud nine, lifted ever higher by the wealth of praise that he offered.

This time it was Lucy's turn to be the sheepish one. All anger was gone at his having read her secret project, replaced by satisfaction that it had provided some enjoyment to at least one other person. Turning back to the stove Natsu began to plate up their food, plying her with questions about characters and plot points at every available opportunity. Lucy took a seat at the dining table and answered them all, trying to still the unsteadiness that she felt in her legs. It all seemed so surreal to her that someone had truly enjoyed her work so much, a work that still wasn't finished.

The fact wasn't lost on Natsu who brought their food over and pestered her for details about how it was that she planned to end the story, and where the characters were all going to end up. To those queries, Lucy remained tight lipped. She savoured his expression as he uttered a high pitched whine and practically begged her for the slightest teaser or spoiler.

Fixing him with her best mischievous expression, she took up a fork and tasted the food that he had made for the both. The burst of flavours were magnificent and left her stunned for a long moment. He had served her chicken that had been marinated in a tomato, basil and chili sauce. The bold flavours of garlic and spices had been absorbed by the chicken and augmented its natural flavour delightfully. It was neither too hot nor too mild and was served on a bed of fluffy white rice that she couldn't have imagined cooked any better. Just as it had been the morning after the party, Natsu's kitchen craft was unparalleled by any that Lucy had ever tasted.

* * *

The remainder of their evening passed by in what felt like the blink of an eye and before Lucy quite knew it, the bottle of wine had emptied. The two of them finished their meal and collapsed onto Lucy's couch with satisfied sighs and full bellies. Lucy couldn't recall the last time that she had enjoyed such a delightful meal, and in all truth she now felt completely stuffed.

"Natsu, you are going to have to let me have your recipe for that." She said with a smile,shuffling over and laying her head on his shoulder.

Natsu seemed taken aback for a moment, before resting his arm across her shoulders and drawing her in to his chest. She savoured the warmth that seemed to emanate from him, warming her to her very core. Sighing contentedly, she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed his company. She reflected on the events of the past weeks; the people she had met, new friends and her newly blossoming relationship with Natsu… it was a relationship, right?

She decided that it didn't truly matter. The reality was that she simply enjoyed every moment that she could spend with Natsu and that regardless of whatever kind of bond they shared, she didn't care so long as Natsu could remain a part of her life.

The two of them sat together in each other's company and chatted until the early hours of the morning. They discussed everything from their pasts to their hopes and dreams for the future. The blonde was hardly surprised to learn that Natsu dreamed of working in a professional kitchen in future to spread his love of food to the world. Lucy explained that she wanted to become a best-selling novelist and see her work soar to the top of the literary charts.

"You can do it Lucy." He told her with an earnest look in his eyes "If you keep writing like you do, putting your heart and soul into it, then I know you can do it. Just don't go forgetting Gray and me when you do eh?"

She giggled softly and swatted his shoulder, giving him a look of mock offense. "Natsu! I'm shocked at you. How on earth could I possibly forget you? You will come live with me in my huge mansion and work as my own personal chef. You shall feed the whole literary world!"

She waved her arms in grand gestures to try and further illustrate her point, and Natsu only sat in silence. His dark sage eyes watched her and a warm smile remained affixed on his features. He admired the glow that came about her when she spoke of her passions, hopes and dreams. It was enough for him to get caught up and swept along with it all.

* * *

Lucy was brought back to consciousness by her phone alarm going off. The device was sat on her table and beeping loudly. Her eyes fluttered open as she tried to understand what was going on from under the thick blanket of sleep that still covered her mind. Bleary-eyed, she looked around and found that she wasn't in her bed as she might have expected. Peering around she came to notice that Natsu was still sat beside her; or rather she was asleep against his chest.

Her heart began to pound as she realised just the scenario that she was in. She was still wrapped in his arms, her body having melted around his into a position of mutual comfort. Natsu was still deep within the realms of sleep, his head leaning back against the couch and snoring lightly. For a long moment, Lucy considered extricating herself from his arms and getting herself ready, yet something stopped her. Some urge deep within her told her not to move a muscle. Listening to it, she gently lay her head back against his chest and closed her eyes. His heartbeat and rush of his breaths reached her ears in a form of rhythm that helped her to drift back towards sleep. Work could wait…

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she frantically checked her watch. Horror filled her as she read the time to be ten to ten in the morning, nearly an hour after she was meant to be in work. She groaned and tore herself from Natsu's arms. As she did he groaned and returned to consciousness. Looking around with an expression of confusion, his eyes settled on Lucy as she dashed around the room both trying to tidy and compose herself for the day ahead.

Lucy's mind was racing as she dashed upstairs and into her bathroom again. Turning on the shower, she leapt under the water before it had time to properly warm up. Shivering at the sudden cold, the shower helped to bring her into the here and now, dragging her from sleep and throwing her into the day ahead. Now that she could think clearly, Lucy began to fret over the day ahead. She was an hour late, just what would the others think when she finally turned out for work?

Hurriedly washing herself clean, she left the shower and hastily fought to dry and tame her hair. Once her luscious golden locks had been brought under control, she dressed herself for work and made her way downstairs again to usher Natsu out of the door and make what apologies were necessary. Yet she didn't find Natsu where she had left him.

Following the smell of fresh pancakes, she found him in the kitchen doing the dishes. On the table in a Tupperware container was a stack of crepes, lightly dusted with sugar and seemingly drizzled with lemon juice. Lucy looked at them hungrily and had to fight the urge to eat them then and there. Instead, she looked at Natsu quizzically and waited to hear his explanation. He turned and offered her his usual optimistic grin that left her feeling noticeably weak at the knees.

"Sorry that you slept in late for work. You cant go in on an empty stomach though, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So I made you a little something for your walk in."

Lucy looked at him incredulously, once again stunned into silence by the rose-haired man's natural sense of selflessness. She scooped up the container and cradled it into her chest gratefully. Just what she had done to deserve such a friend, she truly didn't know; but she thanked her lucky stars all the same.  
"What about you?" She asked, almost as an afterthought as she turned for the door.

"Don't worry about it!" He answered, dismissing her worries with a wave of his hand. "I'll finish cleaning up here, then I'll lock up and head home."

Lucy looked at him for a moment and briefly debated the idea of leaving him in her home by himself. Admittedly they were friends, and rapidly becoming rather lose ones, and yet at the same time she hadn't known him for all of that long. Despite it all, she looked into his deep green eyes and smiled; for therein was honesty. It was something that Lucy couldn't properly explain, but there was something about the way that Natsu looked at her that told her he could be trusted.

Deciding to trust in her gut instinct, she turned away from him and headed out of the door in a twirl of bright golden hair. She walked as fast as she could down the pavement and towards her little coffee shop, taking bites of the sweet pancakes every few steps. They were delightful and refreshing, just the kind of thing that she really needed, although they were gone before she knew it. With a nervous expression, and wishing that she had more pancakes, she arrived at her business and ventured inside expecting to catch the worst from her colleagues.

Yet the barrage of anger didn't come. Instead, the other girls looked up from their work and smiled at her as though nothing were amiss. They greeted her with the same cordial manner that they would on any other day. Lucy checked her watch in confusion until it all began to dawn on her. Juvia had been the one to give Natsu a key to her apartment, and the rain woman would never have given him that key unless she was entirely convinced of his motives. Following that, she must have realised that the date the night before had gone well and drawn conclusions from that so as to explain Lucy's tardiness.

Lucy's face turned a bright shade of red as she realised just how far Juvia could get carried away when her imagination got into gear. She dreaded to think just what stories Juvia had concocted to tell Erza and explain away her boss' late appearance. Groaning to herself, Lucy headed through to the café's tiny staffroom and donned her apron, knowing that at some point the others would corner her as lion's corner a wounded antelope, and demand an explanation.

* * *

As it turned out, her fears were unfounded. The others didn't question her absence despite clearly being aware of the vague context. Aside from the occasional knowing glance and smug grin that they shot her, they left the subject predominantly alone. Lucy was grateful for the fact, losing herself in her work and whittling away the hours until she could close the book on the whole day.

To make matters worse, her mind kept wandering to the events of the previous evening. Despite the fact that nothing had happened, Lucy felt a warm feeling grow within her heart whenever she thought back to their conversations on her couch and how close the two of them had been. Without either of them having realised it, they had inadvertently settled into the dream state that many a couple and lonely single strived towards. Feeling her cheeks heat up again, Lucy hastily turned away from her colleagues and focussed intently on cleaning the steam wand on one of the coffee machines.

When at last the time came to close up shop, she directed her staff towards their tasks and set about wiping down the tables and stacking the chairs. She was glad that the day had gone over without incident either from awkward customers or awkward conversation with her friends. A tired, yet satisfied smile played about her lips as the she hung her apron up and retrieved her coat, bag and empty Tupperware. She smiled at the sight of the empty container and made a mental note to thank Natsu for the pancakes.

As she turned to make her way out of the staffroom and begin the journey home, she found her path blocked by both Erza and Juvia. The two of them had arms crossed and mischievous smiles on their faces. Lucy's heart sank as she realised just what this meant. The two girls hadn't broached the subject all day because they had been conspiring together, biding their time for the perfect moment in which to pounce and hear the full story without threat of interruption.

"Okay… I'll tell you everything. Let's just lock up here and you can both come on over to my place tonight, we can discuss it then." The blonde sighed with a look af resignation. She knew better than to try and worm her way out of such a situation. Juvia was insatiable when she believed there was a tale of romance to be heard, and Lucy had to take but one look at Erza to know that the redhead was undoubtedly the same.

"Very well." Erza said with the hint of a smile. "I'll bring some desserts with me. If we are to discuss such things then it must be done properly."

Lucy nodded her approval and ushered the two of them out of the little café before locking the door behind her. Admittedly things had not gone quite as she might have hoped but she was certainly glad of the opportunity to get home and relax, as well as get her story straight, before the others could arrive and begin their interrogation.

She walked home at a brisk pace and arrived in a relatively short amount of time. Slipping her key into the lock she let herself in and savoured the warmth within as it helped ease off the chill of her walk. Hanging up her belongings on their set pegs beside her door, she made her way upstairs for a quick shower; she knew it wouldn't be long before the others would arrive. Once she had showered she donned some loose fitting lounge pants and an oversized tshirt that rested over one shoulder but left the other exposed. Upon the front was emblazoned a little white dog with cute little eyes and a peculiar snout.

Making a quick sweep of the house she looked for any signs of Natsu that might have been left behind but found none. A pang of disappointment struck her as she realised that he had been true to his word and cleaned up any signs of mess left over from the night before. On her dining room table she found a hastily scribbled note addressed to her that read;

' _Hey Luce, thanks again for a great night. It's a shame that we couldn't hang out a bit more today but we can always do it again sometime right? I've got a whole bunch more recipes that I'd love to make for you. Sorry I made you late for work this morning. Natsu.'_

She scanned the lines a few times over. His script was rushed but still held an odd kind of elegance that she found herself strangely fond of. Holding the note close to her chest she was surprised to find that it shared the same welcoming scent as Natsu himself. The same smoky and spicy scent that Natsu wore also clung to the paper she held in hand. Taking a deep breath of it she savoured it as thoughts of the rose-haired man came to mind.

Spiriting it away, she dashed up the stair and into her room wherein she opened up the drawer containing her manuscript and delicately placed Natsu's note alongside it. She didn't know why she felt so compelled to keep the note, but for some inexplicable reason it felt special to her. Perhaps she saw it as one of the beginnings of something that she hoped could occur further down the line, but for now she kept it simply as the memento of a wonderful night with a good friend.

Pulled from her thoughts by a knock at the door, Lucy closed the draw and quickly made her way back downstairs to let her friends in. Opening the door she was met with a sight that she hadn't quite anticipated; both Juvia and Erza were stood on her doorstep in their pyjamas holding onto sleeping bags and pillows. Lucy raised an eyebrow and looked at them both with a questioning expression but couldn't help the smile that broke out across her features. Stepping aside she let them both in and closed the door, shutting out the cold behind them. It was going to be an interesting evening.

* * *

 **That seems like a good place to leave it for now, what hijinks will the Fairy Tail girls get up to now, and how will Lucy cope with it all? I hope you will all come by again next time to find out. Unfortunately, there is likely going to be a delay between now and then. I have it mostly written by my issue at the moment is finding the time to finalise it all. Between university, scuba diving and efforts to improve my own quality of living, I regrettably dont have anywhere near as much time as I might otherwise like. As such, progress on my works is becoming fairly slow and arduous.**

 **However, all is well! With the christmas break coming up, I am about to have a great deal more time to spare and I shall be making efforts to work on all of my little projects again. So watch this space over the coming months because I think I might just be able to finalise this story and bring it to its conclusion.**

 **Thank you all ever so much for reading, please do follow, favourite and review if you have the time, and as always; I will see you all in the next chapter!**


	7. Business Plans

**Hello everyone, it has been quite some time I know but I am back for a little holiday season gift. As soon as this is published I shall be publishing another chapter straight away for its a 2 for 1 day! I have a defined plot for the story now and I plan to bring it to its conclusion before too long. but more details about that later, for now I present the latest chapters. I hope you enjoy them!**

* * *

Lucy had not been mistaken in her assumptions; with the other two girls in attendance the night had proven itself to be far more interesting than she had originally planned. Far from her initial scheme to settle in for the night with a warm blanket and some kind of a lame rom-com, the three of them had sat up late into the night talking about anything and nothing.

Much to the blonde's surprise, her two friends hadn't launched into an unrelenting barrage of questions regarding her developing relationship with Natsu; nor did they discuss Gray and Juvia or even the new and mysterious Jellal character that Erza seemed to find some interest in. Rather, the hot topic of discussion was the future of the coffee shop and how Lucy planned to deal with the ever-growing influx of customers. Lucy wasn't sure that business was the usual topic for such gatherings, but she certainly didn't mind as long as it kept them away from the topic of romance.

To be frank, it was really an issue which had a steadily growing presence in the back of the blonde's mind. Each shift was becoming more and more difficult to manage with the current staffing, and it was getting harder and harder to match supply to the demand. With each day, she could feel herself growing more and more tired, even with Erza's seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and enthusiasm she had the feeling that the situation was untenable and would ultimately leave them all burned out.

In this regard, Lucy was in two minds. She felt an undeniable degree of pride and satisfaction at having transformed her parents' little coffee shop into a bustling and lucrative business in the city, but at the same time she also felt the stresses that came as part and parcel to those same successes. There was an ever growing list of minor issues that cropped up and threatened to become a major problem for her. At best, it was starting to feel like her day to day was completely occupied with resolving the littlest of issues and headway had ground to a complete stop.

"Have you considered bringing on more staff? It would let you take a step back and manage the inflow and outflow of products from a more advantageous position." Erza suggested off-handedly.

"I have, but I can't just bring more people in like that. For a start the coffee shop isn't big enough to support any more baristas at once, and on top of that there's the problem of finding the right kind of people. Part of what makes the shop so successful is the personal touches, the love that goes into all of the coffee we serve and the efforts that we go to to ensure the satisfaction of the customers." Lucy sighed.

"Juvia can watch over the new employees and make sure they work to Lucy's standards." Juvia offered with a slight smile. "And Erza can help her do it."

Lucy smiled at her two friends, feeling grateful to have them both there supporting her. She had no doubt that under Juvia any new employees would find no room for slacking off, especially not if Erza was there to keep an eye on things beside her. Yet, as reasonable and logical a step as it was, a part of Lucy was truly loathe to finally letting go of the little café. She had worked there for years, and once her parents had passed away, she had shouldered the burden of building it up into what it was today. She had come to know the faces of the customers that came in, had memorised their orders and never once failed to meet them with a smile. To let go of her direct control after so long scared her. Regardless of how unsteady it made her feel, a part of her knew that it was the best move to make for the business as a whole, and perhaps for herself too.

' _ **Besides'**_ She reasoned _**'It's not like I would be leaving it in the hands of total strangers. Juvia has been there with me almost since the very beginning, and Erza has quickly become a key part of the business. If I were to trust anyone with keeping things running smoothly, I would want it to be them.'**_

"You're right. I know you are both right about this. It is just a little daunting to take a step back after all this time. It kind of feels like if I ease up on my grip, then the whole thing will fly away from me and I'll lose it. That little shop is one of the last things I have of my parents'." Lucy explained. In her mind it all seemed like so much was happening all too fast, like she was already resigned to the leap of faith before having the chance to pause and think it through. Then again, the last few weeks had been much the same, she supposed, ever since Natsu, Gray and Erza had arrived she had been branching out more and more with an ever growing feeling of confidence.

"I guess I'll have to start looking for a new building for the café too. It won't be easy to leave the old building, but I suppose we will have to in order to get the space to deal with the new employees." Lucy said after a moment's thought.

"Not necessarily. Why doesn't Lucy open up a second shop in the city? Many of the customers come from quite far away to get their coffee because they hear it is so good. Perhaps opening another shop offering the same products would work better, that way Lucy can still keep her parent's old shop open." Juvia suggested with growing excitement.

"That might work, and that way your more local customers can keep coming to the same shop as they always have." Erza agreed.

Lucy had to pause for thought after that. It was an option that she had never really given thought to. Yet now that it was presented to her it did make a certain kind of sense. The idea of starting up her own coffee franchise was one which excited her a great deal, after all, who could have seen it coming? Her parents had only ever dreamed that their business could grow to such a size, and yet here Lucy was in a position to make those dreams a reality. It was an idea that sent icy shivers down her spine.

"I suppose… that it might be something to look into…" She admitted slowly, "But I would need the two of you to help out every step of the way. I don't think it's something that I could really manage on my own."

"Lucy, you know Juvia will do whatever she can!" Juvia chirped.

"And don't you count me out just yet either. It wouldn't do for me to push you towards this and not at least help in making it a reality now would it?" Erza said.

"Then it's settled. We won't stop until 'Love and Lucky' is the premiere place for coffee in all of Magnolia!" Lucy finished, her words hitting like hammer blows. Already everything felt different, like she had taken a step out into a whole new and uncertain world. It was both exhilarating and terrifying all at once, but it didn't matter. She knew that she had her dearest friends with her every step of the way.

* * *

After that, talk lingered around the finer details for some time as they considered the best times to look for properties around the city as well as how to go about the recruitment process for their new staff. The more they talked, the more it began to dawn on them just how big a task that they had actually taken on and just how daunting it would ultimately be.

Yet as time wore on, their conversations drifted from such serious topics to the matters of the heart. It was something that Lucy had anticipated from the moment that the two other women had arrived on her doorstep, and yet it still caught her completely off-guard. Perhaps in all the talk of business, the blonde had hoped that the subject might have been pushed from their minds completely, but it simply wasn't to be.

Lucy tried to resist at first, redirecting the conversation away from such matters in the hopes of keeping her date night with Natsu as much of a private matter as possible. But every time that she tried, Erza would get a gleam in her eye and thwart her efforts with a ruthless degree of efficiency. In the end, the blonde had been forced to declare her defeat and submit to the redhead's ironclad will. With a sigh she finally gave in and resigned herself to answering their questions.

"It wasn't anything too outlandish really; he came over and surprised me with the key Juvia gave him." She said with a tired sigh, shooting a withering look at her best friend "By the time that I got home he had cleaned the whole house and prepared dinner for us both. After that we kind of just sat up talking about whatever came to mind until the early hours. It was great to finally get to know him a little more, up until now I didn't even really know what he did for a living! I honestly think I understand him a lot more now than I ever did before. It just felt so natural to talk to him, so comfortable to tell him everything that worried or bothered me… and then we… well, we fell asleep on the couch together…"

Catching the look in the others' eyes she hastily added "But it wasn't anything like that! We just stayed up too late and both kind of drifted off together!"

When she finished her face was a brilliant shade of red. She realised that she had gotten completely carried away in her story, feeling swept away in what she perceived to be the romance of it all. By the time that she realised just what she was saying it was all too late to stop. The others sat there looking at her with mouths slightly ajar and saying nothing. Lucy shifted uncomfortably and for a moment wished that the ground would just swallow her up. She didn't even truly understand why it felt so embarrassing. After all it wasn't as though she and Natsu had gotten up to anything anymore raunchy that a lengthy cuddle on the couch.

"That is so sweet! Juvia wishes that she had a lover coming to surprise her in her apartment. How romantic!" Juvia chirped, breaking the silence, much to Lucy's relief.

"That sounds like Natsu. He may seem a little foolish and juvenile at times but it has to be said that his heart is made of gold, and you say he cooked for you? That's quite the honour; in the whole time that I've known him, he has only ever cooked for three people before and they have always been people he is very fond of. I think he likes you more than you realise Lucy~" Erza added. Her tone was sweet and her words touching, but it failed to cover their mischievous intent.

Once again Lucy was silent, her face remaining a vibrant shade of red. In her chest her heart pounded and butterflies swirled around in her stomach. Despite this, and her clear feelings of embarrassment, she couldn't deny an underlying happiness. If what Erza had said proved to be true, then Natsu liked her, and well… maybe she liked him too. It would certainly explain the frequent burst of nerves that she felt whenever he was around. Yet still a part of her resisted the idea. She couldn't be falling for him could she? They had only just met! It all seemed to be moving overwhelmingly fast and she wasn't ready to deal with it all right now. Desperate to move the focus of attention away from herself she latched onto the first idea that came to mind and blurted it out.

"Yeah? Well I hear that Gray and Juvia are getting along just as well, if not better than Natsu and I!" she spoke almost before she could think it through, it was perhaps a low move to throw Juvia to Erza's mercy, but it was the only option that remained to her in the heat of the moment. Regardless, it had the desired effect. Juvia had clearly been knocked onto the back foot and it showed.

"What? N-no! Juvia and Gray are no closer. Juvia sees him quite often around Juvia's apartment building but we haven't really been on any… dates." She quickly stammered, holding her hands up defensively.

"That's not what I heard~" Lucy teased, a mischievous gleam in her eye. It was a rare occurrence that she had Juvia at her mercy and the more devilish part of her simply couldn't pass up on the opportunity. "A little birdy told me, that you and he shared a rather intimate moment that weekend. Maybe you both shared a little kiss?"

At hearing that Juvia went into a complete meltdown. Her eyes glazed over and a happy smile settled on her lips. She had the expression of someone recalling a far off time and place. The only indication that Lucy's words had had even the slightest effect was the fact that her porcelain complexion had taken on a deep shade of beetroot red.

"You really kissed?" Erza asked incredulously, shaking Juvia back to reality. "You have to tell us! Every detail; what led up to it? How was it? Was he shy?"

"W-well, we were walking through the hallways of the orphanage and we stopped by one of the windows to watch the rain come down. Gray was quite shy and bashful so Juvia tried to reassure him. Then he shuffled over to Juvia and looked Juvia right in the eyes and then it just sort of happened… When the kiss came to an end Juvia felt sad. Juvia wished it could have gone on forever but then… then the sun came out and Gray just held Juvia close. It was perfect…"

Lucy and Erza sat in silence, intently listening as Juvia recounted the tale. Though perhaps they were loath to admit it, there was an undeniable feeling of envy between them. Lucy couldn't help but wonder what it might have been like if Natsu had kissed her. She imagined the warm and welcoming scent of his spiced aftershave and the soft feeling of his lips as they brushed against her own, moving to her neck and…

She cut herself off, feeling warmth bloom in her cheeks. _That_ was a train of thought that she was in no way prepared to ride any time soon. She slowed her breathing and fought against her fluttering heart rate. She sighed, knowing that even her own mind was beginning to turning against her. This simply wouldn't do.

"W-well, it looks like the two of you are doing just fine together" Lucy stammered, trying to shake the lingering mental image from her mind but not managing quite so successfully.

"Perhaps… Though Juvia still hasn't been asked out again since, it's like Gray is just continuing on as if nothing actually happened. Maybe he just doesn't see Juvia in that light?" As she spoke, the doubt was clear in Juvia's voice. Lucy felt sympathy well up in her heart; despite being a truly wonderful person, it was no secret that Juvia lacked any real measure of self-confidence.

"I'm sure that's not the case. He's probably just a little unsure of how to go about moving your relationship along. You said he was a little bashful at the time, maybe he is still trying to work out what to do." Lucy replied, the argument seemed a little weak in her mind, but she had to do something to try and turn Juvia back towards a positive frame of mind.

"Come to think of it, that might not be so far from the truth." Erza said pensively "In all the time that I've known Gray he has only really shown interest in two people, Juvia included. The last one, Daphne… well, let's just say that she wasn't exactly the best kind of person. She took Gray for a bit of a ride and really hurt him in the end. He still has great difficulty moving on after that and as a result it has greatly affected his ability to deal with people."

"What happened to her?"

"Nothing that anyone could ever prove…" The redhead answered with a devilish grin. "I simply had a few words with her regarding her actions and she made the excellent decision to leave Gray alone and move one of the other kingdoms… a continent away."

Silence endured between the three of them for several long seconds before the stern expression on Erza's face cracked and the façade dropped. Before any of them quite new it, they were laughing uncontrollably until tears rolled freely down their cheeks and their sides began to ache. Not for the first time, Lucy realised just how lucky Natsu, Gray and indeed the rest of the Fairy Tail family were, having someone as passionate as Erza watching over them. Although, in the back of her mind a single question remained; if Erza was forever watching over her family, then who was watching over her? It seemed unlikely that she would be so forthcoming in sharing her problems with the others, so neither Natsu or Gray were likely to even know if something were really up until it was already too late to help with.

With that in mind, it was there and then that Lucy silently vowed to watch over the redhead. It may not be in the most active manner, and perhaps she wouldn't manage to be all that helpful or effective but she would try all the same. She would become a guardian angel, a celestial protector of sorts.

"Honestly Juvia, Gray is a little oblivious when it comes to matters of the heart. To be honest I think that you would be best to press the attack yourself. Ask him to join you for something. It doesn't have to be anything too elaborate or fancy but it would do you both some good to spend a day in each other's company and partake in some kind of mutually enjoyable activity." Erza offered, waving her hand in an explanatory gesture.

Across from her Juvia's expression was set into one of determination, a hundred situations already running through her mind as it kicked into overdrive. Lucy looked at her friend with a knowing smile, she had seen that expression many a time before and knew all too well that it meant Juvia was concocting a half dozen plans and back-up plans and weighing up each and every one of them to gauge their viability.

"That's enough of all this serious talk! Didn't you both come over here to relax?" Lucy laughed, pulling them all back to the present moment with a grin, lightening the mood significantly. Conversation continued as the night went on drifting from one topic to another in a natural and meandering fashion until at last fatigue caught up with them and they collectively dozed off where they sat.

* * *

Juvia stared at the clock with tired eyes and noted that only a half hour remained of her shift. Ordinarily she wouldn't have so much as looked at the clock, losing herself in the work without any issues, but today wasn't an ordinary day. Today, she was on a mission. Her eyes darted to the clock again as she served up yet another coffee, lamenting that no time had passed.

Ever since coming into work that morning, and indeed much of the night before, Juvia had been mulling over Erza's words and frantically trying to come up with an idea that truly held water and would be enjoyable for both she and Gray, but that was proving to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. Already, she had come up with and disregarded some one hundred and twenty six separate plans, either because they seemed to dull or as though she weren't putting enough effort into it.

Of course, the key issue that she was facing was the fact that despite having spent a good while in his company, Gray remained a complete enigma to her. She still had very little idea of what his hobbies might be or what kind of activities he would find enjoyable and it was beginning to drive her a little insane. Throughout the day, both Erza and Lucy had been offering ideas and advice but none of it had seemed to fit quite right. She had considered going with the tried and true date plans like dinner and a movie but quickly dismissed them as being a low effort alternative. No, if she was going to ask Gray out then it would be something well thought out and considerate.

At least, that was the idea, but it was only a half hour before the end of her shift and she still had no idea what to suggest. With her mind still fumbling for a solid idea, she set about her final chores for the day and began to clean down the work surfaces. She contemplated the first date that she and Gray had been on and tried to glean something from it, whether that be some key piece of information or perhaps even the beginnings of an idea for the follow up.

Yet whenever she tried, her mind was always drawn back to the same moment; the two of them in the light of the sun, lips pressed together. She still recalled just how warm his had been, and how her hands had trembled with suppressed excitement. It had been a moment of unparalleled romance. Their very surroundings had felt like an extension of Grey himself; the place he had laughed, cried and grown into the man that he was today.

That's when it hit her. The idea was so simple and yet perfect. She groaned in frustration as she realised that the whole time she had been thinking about things entirely the wrong way. Rather than big and flashy date plans which held little real meaning, she should have been thinking of something that would carry the same kind of meaning that the visit to his childhood home had done. A wide grin spread across her face as the plan began to flesh itself out in her mind.

"I know that look, you've finally come up with something haven't you?" Lucy asked from across the counter as she carried yet another tray's load of dirt cups back to the café's dishwasher.

"Yes, Juvia has finally come up with something that she thinks Gray will enjoy." Juvia replied in a cheerful and almost melodic tone.

"Well, let's hear it then? What's your big idea?"

"Juvia will tell you all about it after Juvia has asked Gray." The rain-woman beamed, returning her attention to her tasks and continuing with a renewed sense of vigour.

"Well okay, you keep your secrets~" Lucy laughed "You'll have to tell Erza and I all about it afterwards though."

"Of Course!"

* * *

By the time Juvia reached her apartment that evening, her excitement had converted almost entirely into nerves. Butterflies were swarming in her stomach and her hands trembled almost uncontrollably. She tried telling herself that it wasn't anything to be scared of, but still a part of her still whispered doubt into the back of her mind; _'what if he says no?', 'what if he doesn't really like you like that?'_

Yet despite her mounting doubts and fears, she resolved to ask him out all the same. She had come too far to back out now. Draining her cup of tea and trusting it to help sooth her nerves, she made her way down the hall and out of the door. Crossing the hallway towards the door to Gray and Natsu's apartment, she paused in front of the door. Her knuckle hovered above the wood for a long moment as she played out a pre-rehearsed script in her mind for the thousandth time.

"Juvia? Is that you?"

She uttered a surprised squeak at the sudden voice behind her and wheeled around, only to be met with the very person she had come to see. There, in a well fitted shirt and tie was Gray himself. She looked at him in a mixture of shock and horror, knowing that she had already been knocked well and truly off of balance. Still determined to go through with her plan she frantically tried to recover.

"Gray! What are you doing here?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she cringed internally.

"Well, I sort of live here…" He replied with a slight look of amusement twinkling in his charcoal coloured eyes.

"O-of course you do! This is Gray's apartment after all… Juvia knew that." She replied, fumbling for words even as her face grew ever redder.

"So, was there something you needed?"

This was it, it was now or never and never simply wasn't an option. The problem was that Juvia's plan had fallen to pieces before her very eyes. He was meant to be at home and open the door, not randomly catch her in the hallway.

"W-well… Juvia was wondering if Gray was free this weekend at all. Lucy gave Juvia a couple of days off of work and was wondering is maybe Gray would like to spend some time together… maybe…"

Now it was Gray's turn to be surprised. He looked at her for a long moment as the words sank in and their ultimate meaning dawned on him. He supposed that it shouldn't have been so surprising that she would ask him out, but he had been convinced that their kiss had been a little too much. In truth he feared that perhaps he had put her off entirely. They had seen each other a number of times around the apartment building since, but each time he had contemplated maybe asking her out again, his courage had always failed him at the last moment. To have her take the initiative was quite the surprise.

"Juvia, do you mean a… uh…"

"Y-yes… Will Gray go on a date with Juvia this weekend?!" She asked, perhaps a little more forcefully than she had meant to.

"I… uh… well, yeah! I'd like that. When should I meet you?" He said, glad to have confirmation that he hadn't completely put her off.

"That is great! Juvia will meet you at your apartment for eleven this Saturday!" She replied with a happy smile before turning and dashing back into her apartment before her composure deserted her entirely. She closed the door and slumped into a heap at its foot, a wide smile plastered across her face. Her whole body was trembling and the adrenaline was pumping but she had done it!

* * *

 **And there you have it, the first of two chapters. What did you think? let me know and drop a review. if you enjoyed this and you haven't already, please do follow and favourite. As always thank you all for your continued patience and support in regards to this project. If any of you follow my other works, rest assured that updates are soon to follow for those as well. I hope that you have all had a great holiday season and I look forward to publishing a few new ideas in the coming year!**


	8. A Gray Day for Juvia

When the day finally arrived, Juvia practically leapt out of bed. Her limbs ached from the day's work before but she shook it off without a second thought. There was nothing that was going to spoil her mood today. Dashing over to the window she threw open the curtains and was met with the brilliant gleam of sunshine as it crested over the cityscape. Taken aback by the sight, she marvelled at how the rays seemed to dance between the buildings and cast shadows that seemed somehow otherworldly.

She stood for a long while staring out over the city with a brilliant smile illuminating her features. She thought back to how her life had been only a few weeks ago when each day she woke up only to be met with thunderous rain and a grey world. So it had been for as long as she could remember, even as a child she could seldom remember a day when the sun shone through and truly lit up her life. How times had changed since she had met Gray and Natsu. They had turned her whole life upside down in an instant. The old Juvia could never have foreseen that such people could dance into her life and change it all so wonderfully.

Turning her back to the wonderful views, she practically danced through to her diminutive bathroom in a whirl of blue bed-hair. She sang as she showered; a high melodic folk song that her mother had once sung to her in a distant memory. It was hard for her to recall the words, yet as she teased the tangles from her cerulean locks they seemed to return to her mind like a distant echo of days long gone. It eased her mind and calmed her heart, bringing her back to her centre and better preparing her for the day ahead.

Towelling herself off, she made her way back through to her bedroom and picked out an outfit to suit the day. It was something a little lighter than the thick felt overcoats that she would normally have worn, but the day seemed too bright to wrap herself up and away from the sun. Instead she chose a light and loose blue shirt that danced about on the lightest of breezes and resembled waves crashing against the shore. With it she paired a simple set of shorts and a pair of boots. It was a functional outfit to fit the day, while also holding onto a touch of individuality that she hoped Gray might enjoy.

Contented with her outfit for the day, she made herself a quick breakfast of toast and carved herself up a grapefruit to accompany it. Once finished, she hastily tidied away the dishes and went about a final set of ablutions before heading towards the door. One last look in the mirror to tame away a few unruly locks of hair and smooth out creases in her clothes was all it took. Grasping her umbrella (it never hurts to be prepared after all), and she left the apartment and crossed the hallway to Gray and Natsu's apartment.

She had barely knocked when the door opened to reveal Gray stood in the doorway. He was dressed fairly simply in a pair of black jeans and a short-sleeved burgundy shirt. The ever present necklace was hung around his neck but otherwise there was no other form of ornamentation. She smiled warmly at him; it was a good look for him.

"You look really nice." He said to her, more than a little nervously.

"Thank you." She beamed, glad for his compliment. "Juvia likes Gray's outfit too."

"Well, I wasn't all that sure what to wear 'cause I didn't know what we were going to be doing today. I hope this is suitable."

"It will be fine. We aren't going anywhere like Gray took Juvia to, there's no real worry about getting our clothes too dirty if the sun stays up." She replied "Is Gray ready?"

He nodded, and quickly shouted a farewell to Natsu before closing the apartment door and locking it behind him. Looking at Juvia expectantly, he waited for her to take the lead and show the way. She set off at a leisurely pace, taking them down to the lobby and out of the apartment building onto the city's streets. They wound their way along a winding path down roads and through side streets under Juvia's unerring lead.

They chatted amicably the whole way, and Juvia found herself ever more enjoying his company as they did. When they had first set off, he seemed a little unsure of himself and struggled awkwardly through their conversations. His replied had been brief and it felt as though there was a cold distance between them. However, Juvia had continued on regardless, gently pushing their conversations forward and trying to coax him out of his shy state. Her efforts were rewarded when, as time passed between them he began to visibly relax into things. He began to take the lead in conversation instead of just being pulled along as an unwilling bystander.

Carefully, Juvia was able to tease out some select details of his life ranging from his work as a graphics designer for a local firm, through to some more details about his earlier life. Gray seemed all too happy to share the stories of his youth and the trouble that he and the others had gotten into at Fairy Tail. Such stories never failed to leave the two of them laughing.

"So, you still haven't told me." He said once they had been walking for quite some time. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Though his voice was gruff, it only took Juvia a quick look into his eyes to know that it was said in jest. Playing along, she put on her most innocent and sweet smile.

"Sorry but Juvia wants Gray to be completely surprised. Gray will just have to wait and see when he gets there" She teased, stepping out ahead with a slight spring in her step. If Gray was frustrated by her answer, he didn't show it. With a light laugh, he set off at a light jog to try and catch her up, trying to coax an answer out of her the whole while.

Juvia kept her lips sealed save for her melodic laughter as Gray chased her through the city as she led them always onwards and towards their destination. The feeling in her heart was one of joy, she savoured the feeling of the sun's warmth on her pale skin and she enjoyed Gray's newfound playful side. It was a facet of his personality that had hitherto gone unseen by her. It felt as though she had made a breakthrough, and that Gray had let her in past his harder outer shell and into a world occupied by the 'real' Gray. That was something which filled her with a great deal of satisfaction.

Finally, almost a half hour after they had set off, the two of them reached their destination. The city streets gradually gave way to trees and the pavement transitioned to a narrow and winding path. Buildings and shopfronts became tiered flowerbeds and rockeries, and from beneath the city streets a little river flowed and made its way into the little haven. It was a delightful little oasis amidst a sea of concrete and brick.

She came to a stop at the beginning of the path and took in a deep breath, savouring the sweet scent of the flowers and the rich earthy smells from the riverbank. As she did, she felt the aches leave her limbs and the stress in her shoulders fade away. Beside her, Gray was stood slack-jawed. The surprise at finding this little slice of heaven so deep within the hustle and bustle of the city was clearly etched across his features. When at last he had taken in his surroundings, his surprise gave way to a warm smile. Peace seemed to find its way into his heart and his eyes notably softened. Juvia watched him with a look of relief, glad that he had reacted just as she had hoped he might.

"What is this place?" He asked incredulously.

"This is Imitatia Park, it is a place that the city council built to imitate the natural beauty that the city has since built over. Juvia used to come here a lot. Juvia would by the river bank whenever she felt sad. Juvia wanted to show Gray a place that was special to her since Gray showed her where he grew up."

A long moment of silence passed between them as Juvia awaited his response. This was the moment that she had been most concerned about. She wondered whether Gray would take the sentiment well and fervently hoped that he might appreciate the thought behind it. At the very least, she hoped that he would appreciate the natural beauty of the place as a backdrop for the two of them to spend a romantic day together in each other's company.

"You used to sit by the river here?" He asked softly, "Would you show me where?"

She audibly sighed with relief when he finally answered. The slight smile on his face helped to reassure her and settle her nerves once again. She nodded and reached out, almost on instinct, and gently grasped his hand. Gray flinched as their hands touched but he didn't pull away, instead standing there in shock. When she realised what she had done, Juvia's face lit up red and her cheeks felt as though they were alight.

"O-oh! Juvia is sorry. She didn't mean to make Gray uncomfortable… she just did it on instinct!" Juvia stammered in a frantic attempt to backpedal. Internally she berated herself for being so forward and tried to pull her hand back but found herself unable. Looking down, she found Gray's hand grasping her own.

"It's okay…" He replied slowly "I kinda like it. It feels right somehow."

As he spoke, she noted that he averted his gaze and a light tinge of red had bloomed across his cheeks. She regarded him with a degree of uncertainty before shrugging it off with a smile. This was a good thing after all, another step in the right direction for the relationship she was hoping to nurture and help grow.

Pulling him along by his hand, she led him down the pathway for a short distance. Then, after a quick sweeping glance to make sure that they weren't being watched by any of the groundskeepers, she turned off of the path and carefully wound her way through the immaculate flowerbeds. She stepped over and around the multi-coloured blooms with a level of ease only attained after having made the trip a countless number of times. A quick glance back told her that Gray was keeping pace without much difficulty, albeit lacking in any grace.

"We must be careful of the blooms, tread lightly. Once, Juvia got caught by the groundskeepers and had to help replant a whole section of the flowerbeds. Not that Juvia really minded of course."

They wound their way through the sea of vibrant petals and past a few light shrubs until the sound of running water began to come to the fore. It grew from a light babbling sound to a deeper roar until at last they emerged out onto a riverbank. Lush green grass ran right down to the water's edge, and just a short way away two neighbouring willow trees stood together. Their branches had reached out to one another and woven themselves together to form a living bridge between them.

Juvia looked around with an expression of familiarity. It was her place, unknown to the world and hidden in the depths of an oasis of life amidst a sea of hustle and bustle; a peaceful place where nature lived by its own rules, even if it did get a little help from the groundskeepers. She turned to Gray and studied his face, seeking any sign of reaction to their surroundings.

"This place… is incredible. It's odd to think that such a place exists in the middle of a city." He said after a minute's contemplation. Taking the lead, and with Juvia's hand still clasped gently in his own, he paced over towards the trees and ran his free hand along their interlaced branches, savouring the feel of the bark beneath his fingertips. Where the two had come together, they had formed a kind of natural bench covered over by the taller weeping branches.

"Juvia would come and sit right here on these branches and watch the water, sometimes for hours at a time. It always helped to calm Juvia down and help her relax whenever things got to be a bit too much to handle. Somehow it felt like the river washed away all of Juvia's worries until she could face the world again."

Gray listened intently as she spoke, his charcoal eyes softening at the tale. There seemed to be something different about them though. If she looked closely enough, Juvia could see something was different about him. There was something there that hadn't been when they had first met. It was a something which Juvia recognised in an instant. For the first time since she had come to know him, Juvia could see the faintest spark of hope smouldering in his eyes.

Pulling him closer to the trees, she sat upon the branches beside him and moved in closer to him. Leaning across, she rested her head upon his shoulder. She interlaced their fingers and tenderly caressed his hand with her thumb, and that was how they stayed. No words passed between them, nor did they need to. The two of them were simply content in each other's company, there in that secret haven away from the rest of the world.

In her chest, Juvia felt the warmth of happiness bloom in her heart. It swelled up within her to a point that she felt she might burst. In the back of her mind she felt the sharp stab of anxiety for the briefest of instants, anxiety at the fear of being hurt. Feeling so happy could only mean that she had further to fall if things began to crumble around her. Yet she rejected the idea, condemning her anxieties and banishing them to the most distant part of her mind. She knew that Gray wouldn't seek to hurt her; he simply wasn't that type of person.

"You don't have to feel sad anymore."

The words caught her off guard and pulled her from her thoughts in an instant. She looked up at him with a puzzled expression, only to be met with a warm and genuine smile in return. Not wanting to interrupt him, she waited for him to continue.

"You told me that you used to come here quite a lot, whenever you were feeling down. You don't have to feel sad anymore. This place should be a happier one for you and… well, you have Natsu, Lucy, Erza and I all there for you. I'd like this place to hold happier memories for you so… if it's okay with you, I'd like to come her again with you sometimes. We can just sit here and stare out at the water together, but it would be a happier time." He stammered. Once again, his cheeks began to burn a bright red in such a way that Juvia couldn't help but wonder if he was developing a fever.

At least, that might have been what she was wondering had she actually noticed it. Yet she didn't, she was too much in shock on account of what he had actually said to pay his growing blush any mind. The sentiment he had expressed struck her as being perhaps the sweetest thing that anyone had ever said to her. It served to prove just what Erza had said to be true; that under the hard shell that Gray had built about himself, there was a heart of the purest gold.

She looked up at him adoringly for a long moment before nodding emphatically.

"Of course! Juvia would love to come here with Gray again and again, but… well; it's already a happy place to Juvia, because she got to share it with Gray. Today is the happiest that Juvia has felt since Gray showed her around Fairy Tail and ki …kissed her." She stopped herself, hearing the words that were leaving her mouth and feeling the surge of embarrassment rising up within herself. Burying her face in his shoulder to hide the colour rapidly coming to her cheeks, she internally berated herself for letting her mouth run wild.

Gray didn't seem to mind though, he laughed softly to himself for a long while until slight tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

"You know, that was the happiest day I had had in years too." He said at last, once his mirth had subsided somewhat. "Spending that day with you really did help lift me out of a rut I had been in for a long time and as for that kiss…"

He paused, reaching up with a finger he lifted her chin and guided her gaze up to meet with his own. Juvia felt her heartbeat quicken and the butterflies begin to flutter in the pit of her stomach. She waited with bated breath on his next words.

"Well, I guess you could say that I feel I could do better… would you mind if I had another try at it?" He asked with growing confidence, the spark in his eyes having grown to a fully-fledged flame.

Juvia said nothing in response, not trusting herself to form the words she so desperately wanted to say. Instead, she allowed her cerulean eyes to flutter closed and leaned in ever so slowly. The moment that their lips touched, it felt as though her every nerve came alive. Warmth spread through her whole body down to the very tips of her toes. Raising her free hand she cupped his cheek, even as his moved to rest on the small of her back.

Every moment felt like pure bliss to her, a heaven that until now had seemed out of reach. She felt the tensions disappear and deepened their kiss, moaning softly. Her cheeks were glowing red and her lungs were screaming out for air, yet neither of them made so much as the slightest move to pull apart.

When at last the very last scrap of the air in her lungs had been used up, Juvia finally pulled away although she kept her eyes closed. Resting her head on his shoulder again she savoured the warmth emanating from his body. Her lips still tingled and already she longed to return them to his. It had felt perfect, like they belonged there. It almost seemed too good to be true.

"Juvia… I think I might be falling for you and… well it scares me." He whispered haltingly.

"Why does it scare Gray?" She replied, trying to hold her voice steady and only partially succeeding.

"Because what if you don't catch me?"

Once again, she reached up and caressed his cheek, turning his head so that he was forced to look her dead in the eyes. She held him there for a long moment and carefully planned out her response.

"Juvia will be right there to catch you no matter what. Just promise Juvia that Gray will be there to catch her too. Because from the moment that Juvia first met Gray she has been falling."

He looked at her with an expression of pure adoration before leaning in and bringing their lips together again.

* * *

That night Juvia lay awake in her apartment with her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Although she felt tired and knew that she would need to be up for work the following morning she was loath to closing her eyes. She feared that if she dared to, that she would wake up to find the whole day had been nothing more than a dream. It was something that she simply couldn't have handled.

Not that she could have slept even if she had closed her eyes. The day's events had left her dazed and in a state of bliss that she still hadn't managed to shake. It still felt as though she were walking on clouds as Gray's words reverberated time and time again through her mind.

" _Juvia… I think I might be falling for you…."_

They were words that she had been hoping to hear with all her heart and yet somehow she still couldn't quite believe that he had said them at long last. It all seemed just that little bit too perfect to be true.

The date had passed by all too quickly following the kiss that she and Gray had shared. They had sat together in blissful ignorance of the world around them until the sun began to dip behind the cityscape and its light had all but left the world. After that, Gray had walked her home like a perfect gentleman, even if he was a rather nervous one.

They had parted only once he had seen her safely to the door of her apartment before ultimately bidding her a good night with a peck on the cheek, and returning to his own home across the hall. Such a small distance separated them and the knowledge of it was torturous. She wanted nothing more than to run across and throw herself back into his arms, the place where she felt she truly belonged. And yet she didn't.

Summoning her courage, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep with thoughts of her new and blossoming love fixed as firmly in her mind as the smile was fixed upon her lips. The day had been all that she could have possibly hoped for, a day of hope and new beginnings towards a far brighter future than would have seemed possible only a few months before.

* * *

Lucy watched her friend work with a pang of envy stabbing at her heart. Juvia had arrived that morning with a grin on her face from ear to ear, she had smiled all throughout the day and even now, as they worked to close up the café for the day, she still smiled just as brightly. It was clear that her joy was overflowing and the customers had responded all the more positively to the fact.

That wasn't to say that Lucy herself wasn't happy. Her business was booming, and her relationship with Natsu seemed to grow with every passing day. Often was the day that he would sweep by her apartment, usually with a bouquet or some kind of corny gift for her. Not that Lucy minded of course, it left her feeling like she was back in high school again with a bright blush on her features every time. Even on the days he couldn't come by because of work, she would still find herself messaging him whenever she got a spare moment. So much so, that it had become a running joke between them, that if a day went by wherein they didn't hear from each other, they would have to gather a search party. Yet still, she couldn't help but envy the pure happiness that Juvia seemed to radiate.

The blonde didn't have long to focus on the fact however. Following the evening she had spent with both Erza and Juvia, Lucy had kicked into high gear. She had set up meetings that weekend with the estate agents to go over a fine-tuned list of properties that she, Erza and Juvia had all agreed to be suitable. She had sent out a number of adverts to the local paper offering vacancies, and had drafted the paperwork to expand the business as planned. Now, it seemed, it was all a matter of time.

"So I take it that your date went well then Juvia?" Lucy asked with a slight mischievous smile.

"O-oh yes, it was great." Juvia replied, her cheeks colouring red.

"It was more than great I think. A 'great' date wouldn't have you smiling like that Juvia." The blonde laughed, sliding over and digging her slender fingers into Juvia's ribs. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"W-well, uh… Juvia… Gray… down in the park…" She stopped herself mid-reply and tried to get her thoughts in order before continuing on again "Juvia took Gray down to the little park in the city, she sat with Gray down by the river and talked and then… Gray confessed his feelings and then… Gray K-kissed Juvia."

Lucy stood and stared at her friend in stunned silence for a long minute until a wide grin spread across her face. Seizing Juvia's hands, she jumped up and down in excitement, thrilled to learn that things had really taken such a positive turn for the blue haired girl.

Having heard the commotion, Erza came through from the café's little store room to investigate. Upon hearing the news, she took was quickly swept away with the mood of excitement, eagerly demanding the full story in ever increasing levels of detail. The look in her eyes was one of child like glee.

* * *

By the time that Lucy finally stepped through her door and into the hallway of her home, she was exhausted. Close down had taken much longer than usual on account of them all being distracted by Juvia's recent date. When they had finally finished up for the day and locked up the café, Lucy's feet were crying out in protest with every step. She was craving a hot bath and a night with her feet up.

Shedding her coat and bags by the door, she collected up the day's mail and idly made her way through to the kitchen where she made herself a cup of coffee. One might have thought that working in a café and being surrounded by coffee grounds all day would put a person off of the substance, but Lucy still loved it. She kept a small amount of her custom blends at home, finding that they helped provide inspiration for when she found time to settle down and write for a while.

With coffee in hand, she trudged upstairs and set it down beside her bath. Opening the taps, she drew a bath for herself, smiling at the clouds of steam rising from the water's surface. Allowing it to cool momentarily, she stripped out of her works clothes and threw them into the laundry basket across the room. The blonde cringed at the sight of the mounting pile of laundry that overflowed from the basket and silently vowed to get on top of it soon.

Scooping up a fresh towel, she hung it over the bathroom radiator and gently settled herself into the bath. A gasp involuntarily passed her lips as she felt the heat of the bath radiate through her and begin to unwind the tensions from her body. Deciding to treat herself, she added a dash of lavender essence to the water and savoured the sweet scent that it added to the room. Closing her eyes, she laid back and allowed herself to relax completely, enjoying the warmth of the water and gentle aroma of lavender as they swept away all of her worldly concerns.

All of her worries about the business and the stresses of expanding drifted away and left her without a care in the world. Her thoughts instead drifted to Juvia and her most recent date with Gray, including their passionate kiss by the riverside. She drew the comparison to her own relationship with Natsu. She wondered whether they would share such an intimate time together, what it might be like to feel his lips against her own. She felt herself grow giddy at the idea, and her heart began to pound away in her chest.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she tried to bring the blush on her cheeks back under control. Her relationship with Natsu was moving along at its own pace, and she knew that she was perhaps being a little silly in comparing her own life to Juvia's. She had no doubt that one day she would finally kiss Natsu; she just didn't want to push things along faster than either of them was ready for, just for the sake of her own curiosity.

Natsu seemed different to anyone that she had ever met before. Over the years, she had endured several flings with all types of guys, but none of them had ever seemed quite right. They had never left her feeling as Natsu did; where she felt that he liked her for who she was and not just the pretty smile, flowing golden hair and ample curves. He was someone that she enjoyed just spending time with, without ever growing bored.

Sighing happily, she drained the bath and dried herself off. Slipping into her pyjamas, she fixed herself a light meal for the evening and collapsed into the warm and soft embrace of her bed. She was practically asleep by the time her head hit the pillow, and she settled into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

"You did what?!" Natsu asked, staring at his friend and flatmate with an expression of incredulity.

"I kissed her again. We were sat down by the river and the next thing I know I was kissing her she wrapped her arms around me and we must have stayed that way for ages 'cause we both ran out of breath."

Gray had been practically champing at the bit by the time that Natsu had come home from work. No sooner had Natsu hung up his jacket than Gray had come barrelling out to meet him, speaking at a million miles a minute with an excitable look in his eyes. It had taken Natsu a further ten minutes or so to finally calm Gray down enough to be able to draw the full story out of him, but once he had it seemed almost unbelievable.

"Really? Nice job Gray, always knew you had it in you!" He laughed, clapping him on the back before making his way through to the kitchen to grab himself a drink. Moving through to their apartment's living room he had Gray walk him through the day's events once more, cringing a little at the level of detail that Gray seemed all too happy to provide.

He was truly happy for his friend, glad that he was finally moving on after the Daphne incident; of that there was no doubt. Yet, internally he wondered whether or not he might want to do something similar with Lucy, but quickly dismissed the idea. It was true that he yearned to move things along with the blonde, but the more sensible part of him daren't for fear of leaving Lucy feeling pressured or rushed. Things between them were stronger than ever, and he was pretty certain that the romantic interest between them was at least mutual. As things stood, they were practically a couple in all but name. Yet what he wasn't certain of was just how she would react to the suggestion that they become an official item, and he felt that the time to find out would soon present itself.

* * *

 **And as promised there is the second chapter! Once again I do hope that you enjoyed it and look forward to reading any reviews that you may have for me. I do try and improve on my work using the feedback from all of you wonderful folks so please do keep leaving them for me. I hope to have the next chapter published before too long so watch this space. Please do favourite and follow if you haven't already so that you don't miss the updates on this piece.**

 **I have been the FlagshipArkos and as always I shall see you all in the next chapter!**


	9. A New Place to Call Her Own

"And this one covers a substantial retail space with several extra rooms fit for conversion into staff quartering and storage space. There is ample space for tables inside as well as additional rights for pavement side seating."

Lucy followed along after the estate agent and nodded idly at each of the points that she made with her eyes wide. This was the third property that she had visited that day and had been growing thoroughly bored of it. She had a wad of papers in hand describing everything from square footage, the number of power outlets and development permissions. Yet despite this, she had felt no closer to finding a place suitable to start up a new branch of her business. That was until now.

The property seemed ideally suited for her. It was light and airy with wide windows facing out onto the street through which plenty of sunlight shone through. She could envision a wide counter set into the corner with plenty of space behind it for the team of baristas to work in. It was much larger than the original coffee shop and as the estate agent had said, there was plenty of room to put tables in to accommodate for more customers than the other site could ever manage. The idea of pavement seating was also an appealing one, at least for the summer months when the air was too warm and humid to stay indoors.

It was a far cry from the first two properties that they had seen. The first had been much smaller and more dismal than Lucy would have liked. It wasn't much different from the building that Love and Lucky currently occupied; only it felt a great deal less welcoming. Lucy just couldn't see herself establishing a business there. The homely feel was a key part of the experience that Lucy wanted for her customers.

The second hadn't been much better; it was larger but was hidden away in the side alley and largely out of sight. Erza had grumbled that it had a much shadier feel to it than was suitable for the business and even Juvia had agreed. They had ended the viewing before the agent had managed to get five minutes into her sales pitch for the site. After that, Lucy had begun to lose hope for ever finding somewhere that felt like the right place to establish the new Love and Lucky branch. But this third property had soon rekindled the spark inside her.

She looked over to her two friends beside her. Both Erza and Juvia seemed equally impressed by the building and walked around with expressions of reserved wonderment. Lucy looked over the numbers on the sheet in front of her and winced at the price. The rent was a little steep but it wasn't completely unmanageable with some careful budgeting and she wagered that income from the new branch would potentially offset the costs if all went well. She let the agent finish her pitch before looking around the property once more. Both of the other girls looked at her with hopeful smiles and nodded their approval.

Lucy looked at the forms again and quickly ran the numbers for what must have been the thousandth time. She felt the butterflies begin to flutter in the pit of her stomach as she flashed her best smile at the estate agent. Drawing a quick breath, she took the plunge.

"I think we will take it!" She laughed.

The estate agent smiled and produced copies of the required paperwork from within her briefcase. Over the course of the next half an hour, Lucy went over the rental agreements with a cautious eye. She packed them away into her bag and thanked the estate agent one last time before at last the three of them stepped out onto the street again. Lucy sighed thankfully, glad that the search had ended up being a relatively quick and painless one.

"I think this place will do just fine." Erza said with a smile, smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes.

"Juvia agrees, the place was perfect." The blue haired woman concurred.

"Yeah, it's perfect. It's just a little expensive. We may have to hold off on hiring the full number of staff for a while. Refurbishing the interior is going to be a big cost and the profits from the café will be spread quite thin to cover it. But I think we should be ready for a grand opening in a couple of months or so." Lucy stated. The profits from the café were coming through reliably, but it would undoubtedly be quite a hit to get the new place sorted, especially with legal fees and commission costs through the estate agents.

"Perhaps not…" Erza replied cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Lucy enquired with a confused expression.

"You'll see. Concentrate on the legal papers for now and trust the rest to me." The redhead answered with a knowing smile.

Lucy wasn't sure what to say. In the relatively short time that she had known Erza she had come to know the look that was currently on her face. It meant that she was concocting some kind of scheme, a scheme that wouldn't become apparent until the very last moment. Conceding with a shrug of her shoulders, Lucy resigned herself to trusting Erza's judgement. If she said that there was a way to get it all ready for launch in quick time, then Lucy knew it would happen.

* * *

That night Lucy sat at home reading through the various résumés that had been brought into the café applying for the new positions that she had advertised. It was a surreal experience for the blonde, given that she had only done so twice before in the time since she had taken over as the owner of Love and Lucky. Her eyes scanned the pages of text but struggled to actually take in the details. They all seemed qualified for the position, but without meeting them for herself, Lucy simply couldn't be certain of their suitability for the role. She had intended to shortlist a few of the applicants but thus far had failed to remove any of them from the running, and the idea of judging people as good enough or not wasn't one that she felt comfortable with.

Sighing, she took up a pen and went through them all, highlighting any spelling errors that had seemingly slipped through the cracks, as well as scanning the various qualifications. After an hour, she had thinned the herd down from twenty applicants to just ten. Sighing with exhaustion, she set the papers aside and groaned to herself. Working so hard for years had been tough, and at times had worn her down to what she had believed to be her limits but the work she had been doing to try and expand the business had been far harder still.

She was just about to haul herself to the kitchen and fix herself a late dinner when she heard a knock at the door. Groaning at the idea of company, she shuffled out into the hall and towards her home's front door. She paused for a moment to lazily tuck away a few loose strands before opening the door. Her fuzzy mind failed to comprehend the person who stood there at first, and so she stared blankly for a long moment. A blush steadily crept over her cheeks as the realisation at who was stood on her doorstep sank in.

"Natsu?" She asked, frantically trying to tidy herself up and smooth out her clothes. She berated herself internally for not having taken the time to make herself presentable.

"Hey Luce!" He replied cheerily, disregarding her blank expression. "Erza said that it had been a long day so I thought I would come by and give you these!"

As he spoke, he held up two brown paper bags with a proud grin on his face.

"I know that you don't really eat properly when you're working late, so I figured that I would come and make sure that you had something good to eat. I can't have you wasting away here all by yourself now can I?"

Lucy's heart beat quickened as she stepped aside to let him in out of the cold. The smell of fresh Chinese food filled the hallway as he came in and made her mouth water uncontrollably. She followed him through to the living room where he directed her to take a seat on the couch while he went through to the kitchen to dish up their food. He returned a minute later carrying two bowls piled high with noodles. Lucy took hers gratefully and gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you Natsu, this was really sweet of you." She said, shooting him a warm smile.

"Nah, don't worry about it Luce. We're friends right? It's our job to look out for each other." He answered, waving it off with a chuckle.

Lucy felt her heart skip a beat. Was that really all that he saw them as, friends? She couldn't help but feel a little dejected at the idea. Perhaps, that was really all that Natsu wanted out of his relationship with her. She frowned a little, feeling a lot more crushed than she might have expected. Shaking it off, she tried to rationalise it. It was just a common turn of phrase; it wasn't as though he had explicitly told her that he wasn't interested. There was still a chance for her.

"Everything okay Lucy?"

Lucy was pulled from her thoughts by his voice. She snapped back to it only to be met with a pair of sage eyes that seemed to pierce right through her. They held a look of concern that she hadn't really seen before. His face was only inches from her's. His lips were so close and yet out of reach. Her cheeks began to burn and take on a brilliant shade of red until she shuffled uncomfortably and finally forced out an answer, stumbling over her words.

"O-oh! Yeah, everything's fine. I uh… I was just thinking about something, that's all!" She managed, cringing at how shrill her voice sounded.

Natsu held her gaze for a moment before the concern in his eyes faded away and he moved back and away again. If he didn't believe her answer then he didn't show it, turning his attention to his noodles and consuming them at an impressive rate. The two of them ate, an awkward silence lasting between them for a long while. Lucy hated it, the normal comfortable atmosphere that usually existed between the two of them was nowhere to be found and had been replaced by an ever growing void. Or so it seemed. She tried to think of a way to break the ice, but nothing came to mind and so the silence between them continued.

After a long while, it was Natsu who finally spoke and when he did he seemed to lack his usual confidence. Looking at him, Lucy thought he more resembled an anxious high schooler than a fully grown adult in his early twenties.

"Hey Luce. I know that we've been hanging out quite a lot lately and that we're always messaging each other…"

This was it, Lucy thought, the final nail in the coffin. Natsu was about to make it clear that he was only interested in a friendship with her. He was about to sink the ship holding her hopes for anything more between them, sink it before it even left the harbour. Though that didn't explain the look on his face, nor the tinge of pink that coloured his cheeks.

"Well I was wondering if you'd like to hang out again sometime but not like we usually do. I thought we could do something a bit more… special, just the two of us…"

By the time he finished Lucy was at a complete loss for words. Her stomach had knotted itself up so tightly that it hurt, and her heart seemed to be doing advanced gymnastics in her chest. Any order that her thoughts had once been in was lost as her brain went into total meltdown. She stared at him blankly for a long moment until the system re-booted and a sense of newfound confidence filled her up.

"Natsu, are you asking me out" She asked in her most playful tone.

"N-no! well… I mean, not unless you wanted me to. I mean I'd really like to go out with you properly but I'll understand if you don't see me that way…" His reply was sheepish and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Yet beneath the thick veil of nerves, Lucy could still see the glimmer of hope shining deep within his eyes and it was positively adorable.

She couldn't quite believe it. All of her nerves, uncertainty and worry had faded in an instant to be left only with a sensation of unbridled excitement. It was the final confirmation that she had so desperately been hoping for. Mirth bubbled up within and burst forth until she was laughing uncontrollably. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her sides ached. Drawing breath and fighting to get her words out in between her laughter she gave him his answer.

"Natsu you idiot… Of course I'd like that!" She answered, laughing with a bright grin on her face.

"I-is that a yes?" He asked, his usual self-assured persona returning.

"It's a yes." She confirmed, wrapping him in her arms and squeezing him tightly.

As she held him close, once again savouring the rich and earthy scent of his cologne she thought back on the day's events. It seemed as though her life was moving forward in leaps and bounds so fast that it threatened to run away from her if she wasn't careful. But she had grasped it with both hands, and if one thing was truly certain, it was that she would not be letting go.

She felt her heart swell as she held him close. Just what did this make them now? Were they officially an item, or were they dating? It felt a little too soon to be saying that really, she thought it would be a little more time before either of them could be certain that it was the right move for them to make.

* * *

The change in Lucy's demeanour for the following days was obvious to anyone who knew her. She practically danced around the tables in her café, performing delicate pirouettes around her customers with a tray in hand. Never once did she spill so much as a single drop. So it was when Erza pulled her over to one side and gave her a smile.

"Lucy, they're here." She explained with a smile. Lucy nodded her understanding and moved through to the staff room of the café. She seated herself down at one of two chairs behind the table and hurriedly tried to make herself seem presentable. Before long, Juvia came through to join her in the chair beside her. Lucy hastily ordered the small stack of papers on the table in front of her and waited for the applicant to arrive.

This was as had been agreed by the girls in the preceding days while Lucy had been scheduling the interviews. Lucy was to sit in on the interviews as the head interviewer, while Juvia and Erza would switch out and alternate between interviews. Lucy had insisted on them both having a part to play in the hiring process, and so this was the solution that the three of them had composed in response and as far as Lucy was concerned it was the best solution. She simply couldn't afford to close down the coffee shop while interviews were being held, so someone had to remain in front of house to ensure that the customers were still being served. Service might slow down for a while, but it was better than shutting up for the day.

Before a couple of minutes had passed, Erza reappeared in the doorway with a smile on her face. Behind her trailed a young looking woman with long blonde hair and dressed in a smart looking emerald suit. Delicate looking half-moon spectacles rested on the bridge of her nose and behind them were a pair of sharp eyes. She had an imposing aura about her to be sure, that had Lucy frowning slightly. The blonde gestured to the free seat across from her and handed Juvia a copy of the résumé for her to scan through. The two waited for their applicant to take her seat and get herself comfortable before Lucy began to speak.

"So Evergreen, why don't you tell us a little about yourself." Lucy said with a smile.

"Well there isn't much to tell really, I worked as head barista in one of the larger chains in the city for over two years but recently I moved out towards the suburbs. The commute became a little bit unmanageable and the job wasn't what it used to be. I got tired of dealing with droves of droll teenagers and rude customers, so when I saw this position advertised, I thought I should at least apply. Really, I think I am a little over-qualified to return to basic work, but beggars can't be choosers." She explained. Her attitude was matter-of-fact, but the look on her face bespoke a degree of tired experience.

"Well here at 'Love and Lucky' we view our customers as guests more than as just being sources of money. We want them to experience a sensation of relaxation when they come in here, like a sort of home away from home. Were we to offer you the job, how would you ensure that our customers had the most relaxing experience possible with us?" Lucy continued, making notes on Evergreen's answer.

"Well, that is a very specific dynamic and honestly it sounds like a difficult atmosphere to create. Not that it would cause me any trouble that is. It all starts as soon as the customer comes through the door. I would welcome them with a warm smile and maybe welcome them home, if this place really is a home away from home." Evergreen began. Her speech was a little hesitant and it seemed to Lucy that the question had caught her off-guard. "After that I believe it all comes down to the little touches, attention to the details and taking every step possible to make sure that the customers' every little need is met, before the customer even becomes aware of the need themselves."

Juvia nodded and hastily jotted down some quick bullet points. Leaning forward, she levelled an unrelenting gaze at the woman opposite. She remained that way for a long moment before saying anything, but when at last she did speak, Lucy was surprised by the question.

"Lucy's café serves a lot of unique drinks that use her own particular blend of coffee and spices. Would Evergreen be able to memorise and serve all of them to the high standards that Lucy has spent years building a reputation for?" Juvia asked. Lucy couldn't help but smile at hearing her friend's words, feeling warmth in her heart at the sentiment behind it.

"Well of course I can!" Evergreen answered almost indignantly. "Memorizing a few recipes shouldn't prove too difficult for me."

Lucy nodded with a smile before writing a few more notes onto her jotters pad. The interview went on in much the same way, with Lucy or Juvia posing questions that related to the rather specific atmosphere that Love and Lucy sought to create, all the while making notes of Evergreen's answers. The answers that she gave were exemplary, but something just didn't seem to check out with Lucy. It almost seemed like Evergreen viewed the whole experience as an unnecessary use of time. Double checking over her notes and making sure that all of the important bases had been covered, Lucy set aside her pen.

"Thank you for coming in today. We have a few more candidates to interview over the coming days but we will be in touch once we have made our final selections. Please feel free to grab a free coffee on your way out and try our special blends." Lucy said with a sense of finality, offering a handshake. Evergreen took it, though the look in her eyes seemed to suggest that she wasn't entirely contented with the way in which the interview had concluded. Evergreen turned and left the room. Once she had gone, Lucy turned to look at her best friend with a frown.

"What did Lucy think?" Juvia asked, already confident of the answer.

"I think she had a real attitude problem." Lucy answered, puffing out her cheeks a little. "I just hope the others aren't as bad… No matter how rude she was, we can't deny that she had the right idea when it came to service and she is more than qualified for the position."

"Juvia is sure that Lucy will find a better candidate soon!" the blue-haired barista replied.

* * *

The rest of the week went by in much the same way. Lucy made her way into the café, and would sit through however many interviews that were scheduled for the day before closing up and finally going home. Some went better than others but despite that, Lucy could feel her optimism steadily wearing down. Despite the insistences of her friends that she would find the candidates, Lucy remained unsure.

By the end of the weekend, Lucy had settled on two candidates that she thought would fit the role. Both were polite young women, if a little shy. But that wouldn't matter really. Juvia had been shy when she had first come to work at the café, and she had quickly become a truly valuable addition to the business. No, Lucy was confident that Kinana and Laki (for that was the names of her newest employees) would work out well, both Juvia and Erza had been quite vocal in their approval of the two and as far as Lucy was concerned, that was the highest level of approval there was.

She sighed, knowing that even with two new-hires; they would still be short-staffed once the new branch opened. She felt like tearing her hair out from the stress of it all. Natsu had quickly become her rock throughout the whole ordeal. He seemed to have a sixth sense for when things were beginning to overwhelm her and always seemed to turn up just when she needed a distraction or some kind of sugary stress reliever. She felt a little bad for relying on him so much, but savoured every moment that she could spend with him.

On top of everything, Lucy still didn't know what was going on with the new property. She had submitted the paperwork and moved things onwards to finalising the sale, but Erza had insisted on taking the keys the moment that they had turned up without so much as a word in explanation other than; 'you'll see'.

Groaning at what she perceived as the futility of her situation, Lucy leant on her desk with her face buried in her hands. Just why was it that business had to be so stressful. It was starting to show in her skin, much to the blonde's dismay. To top it off, everything with the business had sapped all of her free time, so much so that she hadn't had chance to work on her novel in an age. She was pulled out of the depths of her stresses by the sound of her phone vibrating against the wood of her desk. She quickly scooped up the device and scanned the words on the screen.

' _ **Hey Luce! I know it's been a tough week but hang in there! So about that date…You reckon that you'll be free next Saturday. I know you're real busy with the new place and all but it might be good for you to get away from it all. It wouldn't be anything too exciting really; just a little food and maybe a movie?'**_

Lucy smiled brightly as she read the message and quietly offered up a word of thanks for having Natsu around. Since their talk the previous week, neither of them had suggested making plans at all; both of them being snowed under with their respective responsibilities. Lucy had just chalked it up to Natsu having forgotten, so to see confirmation that he still wanted to take her out filled her with a warm sensation.

But then the reality of her situation came crashing back in again as she realised that the new-hires would need training and the budgets would need to be worked out ahead of the new branch opening. Then again, Natsu wanted to head out or dinner, she could still work most of the day with the others; she would just have to duck out a little early. Besides, she reasoned, if she was going to open a new branch she would have to start placing more responsibility on her two supervisors.

Lucy was positive that Juvia and Erza could more than handle the training of the new-hires. They both understood the way that the company functioned and the values that Lucy felt to be important. Smiling to herself, she quickly typed out a response and hit send. There was a sense of finality to it that granted her a feeling of satisfaction.

' _ **Sure Natsu! I would love to. It's been rough trying to get everything sorted and ready, I could really use the break. Juvia and Erza should be able to handle things at the café for closing up, especially with the new help we are taking on. Shall I come by your place once I'm ready?'**_

' _ **Don't be crazy! I'll come get you!'**_

Lucy reasoned that a little time out and away from the café would do her some good. It would be a good chance to just get away from it all and get her thoughts in order for the first time since she had decided to expand her business. Besides, if it meant that she could spend an evening alone with Natsu, then she would be all too happy to take him up on the offer. He _had_ asked her out after all.

* * *

Things only moved to further support the conclusion the following day when she arrived for work. She unlocked the door and shuffled inside to escape the morning chill, followed closely by Erza, Juvia and their two new hires. Lucy had been hesitant at the suggestion that the new hires start their training so soon when work had yet to start to get the new location up and running, but Erza had been insistent and Lucy had ultimately relented.

Ushering Kinana and Laki inside, Lucy found them aprons and stationed them on the café's floor. Waiting on the tables seemed like a good place to start, she reasoned, after all service with a smile was a key value of the business as a whole. Juvia and Erza took up their usual places behind the counter and quickly set about getting ready for the first service of the day while Lucy went into the back room to finalise the paperwork for the new girls.

"Does Erza really think that it is best for Kinana and Laki to start training now?" Juvia inquired off-handedly as she started grinding the first batch of coffee for the day.

"Oh yes, I'm certain. Everything is moving along smoothly. I can't give you any details just yet, but everything will be ready and in order for Lucy's birthday next month." The redhead replied, tapping the side of her nose with a knowing smile.

Hundreds of questions sprang into Juvia's mind all at once, but she never got the chance to ask a single one of them as Lucy returned to the shop front with a smile and a sheaf of papers in her hands. She looked to the two girls standing slightly nervously out on the café floor.

"Well, its official!" she told them "You two are officially staff members of 'Love and Lucky'. Here are your name tags; I hope you both enjoy working here."

"Thank you, we won't let you down." Kinana answered with a shy smile. Beside her, Laki simply bowed her head in thanks. Satisfied that things were in order, Lucy was about to return to the back and file the papers away when she caught sight of her two friends behind the counter.

"And just why do you both look so suspicious?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"Oh, no reason really. Juvia and Erza were just… talking." Juvia answered frantically, her face turning a bright shade of red.

Lucy chuckled to herself and let the issue drop. Juvia may have been a terrible liar, but she was exceptionally tight lipped when it came to keeping secrets. In many a way, Lucy envied the ability. The blonde had never been able to keep a secret for long before someone managed to coax it out of her in some way or another, usually by plying her with wine... Shrugging off her suspicions, Lucy continued on into the back rooms and filed away the employee forms in the business folder and went about her day's work.

That night, Erza relaxed on the couch in her apartment and tapped away at her phone. Reams of text appeared at lightning speed as she worked her way through her contacts list and made the necessary arrangements for the refurbishment of the new location. She felt bad for keeping the plan a secret from Lucy, but she knew at heart that if Lucy knew what she had in mind then the blonde would never have gone along with it. Instead, Erza though it would make an excellent surprise for her friend's upcoming birthday. All that remained now was to get the final okay and everything would be ready.

No sooner had the thought left her mind than a message appeared on the screen. Hastily she opened it and read the text a few times over to make sure that there could be no mistake. The smile on her face only grew with each re-reading. It was simple, of few words and directly to the point;

' _ **Yeah, everything is in order. We can start tomorrow night.'**_

* * *

 **Well here we are, another chapter is done and dusted. My work schedule is crazy at the moment with university so Ive just had no time to write anything but the shortest pieces. Its been a real journey to get this ready, but I'm finally happy with it. I hope that you all enjoyed it at least. Please do favourite and follow if you did, though I will apologise in advance for my erratic publishing schedule.**

 **Please drop me a review and tell me what you thought and as always, I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	10. Friends Conspire

That Saturday rolled around with a surprising degree of speed. So much so that Lucy hadn't even realised until the event reminder on her phone went off. She had just fixed herself a fresh cup of coffee when the alarm caught her attention; she shuffled over and grabbed the device. Frowning at the reflection of her messy bed-hair in the screen, she quickly scanned the alarm title and almost dropped the phone in surprise.

Her cheeks burned a bright red with the embarrassment at not having realised. Her horror was further emphasised as she realised that it was already a quarter to ten, and that Natsu would be coming to pick her up before too long. She drank her coffee at lightning speed and dashed back upstairs just about as fast as her legs could carry her.

She quickly showered and applied her day's make-up as hastily as she could before throwing open the doors to her wardrobe and staring at the rows of garments that she had hung up within. She flitted through them all before ultimately settling on a form fitting shirt-miniskirt combination that accentuated both her natural curves and her long legs. She smiled, hoping that Natsu would notice.

She had just finished taming her hair into her usual side-ponytail style when the doorbell rang downstairs. Tucking a few final strands of hair behind her ears she made her way down the stairs towards the door. Her stomach growled loudly, protesting at the lack of breakfast, but Lucy ignored it. She would be getting lunch with Natsu before too long, so she could hold out until then at least.

As expected, the one stood on her porch was Natsu. His rosy coloured hair was in its usually messy state, but beyond that it seemed that he had made efforts to tidy himself up at least a little bit. He was wearing a thick blue cotton shirt that appeared to have been freshly ironed and a pair of khaki slacks to match. Over the top he had a black blazer that appeared to fit him well. Lucy allowed herself a moment of guilty pleasure in noting just how well the shirt seemed to fit him, highlighting what appeared to be a well-defined physique.

"uh… Hey Lucy, why are you staring at me like that? Did I spill something on my shirt?" He asked curiously before running a frantic inspection of his clothes.

"N-no! No, you don't." Lucy answered a little too forcefully, further fuelling the blush that coloured her cheeks. "I was just thinking that you looked really nice. Your outfit suits you."

By the time that she had finished speaking, her voice was only a little above a whisper. Internally she cursed herself for being so nervous around him. This was Natsu! She had been around him so often that he was practically part of the furniture. Besides, this wasn't the first date that she had been on, so why did it feel like she was back in her senior year about to head off to prom for a night of awkward dances and nervous Smalltalk?!

"Oh…" He answered, scratching the back of his neck as he always did whenever he felt nervous though if he was feeling as nervous as she was it didn't show. No sooner had he said it than he had snapped back into his usual confident persona. The fire in his eyes ignited and the grin re-affixed itself to his features. "Well, how about we get going? I've got this great place in mind for lunch. You're going to love it! I hope you're hungry!"

"Starving!" She nodded, glad that he had diffused the tension between them. She opted not to tell him about her having skipped breakfast for fear of hurting his feelings. She didn't want him to think that she had forgotten after all. Grabbing a jacket and her bag she followed him out of the door and locked it behind herself. He led the way out of her home and a little ways up the streets to where his car was parked.

The car still looked as beat up and abused as ever, but Lucy had long since gotten used to 'Igneel' and its rough appearance. She knew that it wasn't indicative of the old car's true self. Under the bonnet it had the engine of a car only a fraction of its age. What might look like an old dragon on the brink of death was actually a fresh hatchling will all of the eagerness and ferocity that comes along with it.

He held the car's passenger side door for her. She thanked him with a smile and slipped into the car's soft interior. The upholstery was something to marvel at to be certain, though she didn't get much of a chance to do so as Natsu closed the door after her and hastily climbed into the driver's seat. She had scarcely clipped her seatbelt in than he pulled away and took off down the street.

Lucy giggled softly to herself, amused by how his excitement seemed to spill over into everything that he did. It was a kind of contagious enthusiasm that had her heart pounding ever faster in her chest. It wasn't long before she had been completely swept along with the feeling until her own feelings matched his. She thought that the atmosphere around them must have been palpable to anyone that might have walked by.

Natsu rolled the windows down and turned the stereo up as hit after hit played on the radio. At first it was only Natsu singing along with the tracks, often putting on his best attempt at a falsetto to match the female artists. It never failed to get a laugh from the blonde sitting beside him, and before long she joined in, putting on her deepest voice to match the male artists too. It was the most fun that she could remember having, and time itself seemed to slow to a crawl around them. So far as Lucy was concerned they could have stayed like that forever, just jamming in his car until sunset.

"Okay, we're here. I don't think I can justify driving around the block for a fifth time." He laughed.

"I _thought_ that everything looked a bit familiar! Why were you driving laps?" She asked with a look of surprise.  
"Well, to hear you sing of course. You looked so into it that I didn't want to stop you! Your cover of Johnny Cash was amazing by the way!" He replied.

Lucy didn't answer him. Instead she let the playful pout on her face express her sentiments. A sense of flattery bubbled up I the pit of her stomach when he told her that he had enjoyed her singing. She hadn't been taking it very seriously of course, but she couldn't deny that some small part of her drew immense satisfaction from his appreciation of it.

Chuckling at her reaction, he slowly pulled the car in towards the curb and came to a stop. He applied the handbrake and snatched the keys from the ignition. In a flash he was out of the car and round to the passenger side door. Opening it out for her he gave a mock bow with a look of amusement clearly etched onto his features.

"Madam." He said in his best attempt at a snobby accent, before offering her his hand to help her out of the car.

Lucy looked at him with an expression of incredulousness. Laughing it off, she took his hand and climbed out of the car. A blush crept up and onto her features as she felt the warmth of his skin against her own and silently cursed as her hands began to clam up. She could do little more than hope he wouldn't mind.

But if he noticed at all, he made no show of it, keeping hold of her hand as he shut the door behind her with a foot and hit the central locking button on his key fob. All the while, the brilliant smile never once left his cheeks. Just seeing the intense joy that he seemed to radiate had the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. It was a situation further exacerbated by the fact that her hand was still held in his.

"Mr. Dragneel." She said haughtily, attempting to mimic his accent from only moments before. "Was this simply an excuse for me to seize my hand? I am not certain that I can permit such behaviour!"

At that, he deadpanned and stared at her unyieldingly for several long moments. Lucy was shocked to see the smile vanish from his face, and for the briefest of moments she feared that she might have gone a little too far. Such fears were allayed when she heard a sudden bark of laughter.

The sound startled her at first, and her eyes frantically wandered around to search for the source of the sound. It took her only an second to notice that it was Natsu that was laughing. His eyes were squeezed shut, and tears had formed in the corner of his eyes. Lucy felt relief wash over her, despite feeling more than a little baffled. Yet before long she found that she too was laughing, the mirth overflowing until they were both doubled over and their sides ached.

Members of the public walked past them, shooting quizzical or concerned glances at them before continuing on along their way. Lucy couldn't blame them for their confusion; she had no doubt that she would be a little baffled if she saw two people in the middle of the pavement, laughing as though they had just heard the funniest joke ever written. In truth, she didn't even really know why it was that she was laughing, but she put it down to Natsu. The man's emotional state and views on life were contagious. Whether he was laughing or crying, Lucy didn't doubt that it never ceased to affect the people around him. It was one of his best traits.

"Honestly Luce, you crack me up." He managed to say in-between hasty breaths when at last he had brought his laughter under control. "I can always count on you to make me smile."

Once again, Lucy felt her heart swell within her chest. Was that really how he saw her? She wasn't sure what to do with that information, but it made her glad to know it. Her mother had always said that the key to any good relationship was humour. Recalling those words, she quickly fell into embarrassment, feeling her cheeks heat up with the inevitable blush that followed.

She wanted to hide her face in her hands but couldn't. That would have required taking her hand back from Natsu's, and that was something that the blonde was simply not willing to do. Refusing to allow her embarrassment to get the better of her, and instead choosing to wear it like a badge of pride, she placed her free hand on her hip and levelled a stern but playful look at her date.

"Anyway, we can't stand here all day. If I don't eat something soon I think I might die." She stated, bringing all that remained of her confidence to bear. From his expression, it seemed that she had caught him off guard but it was short lived.

"Well we can't have that! Who else would I hang out with? And I think Levy might die if you never finished your manuscript… and well, I kinda wanna read it too…"

The last of his words were scarcely above a whisper, and left her wondering whether she was meant to have heard them at all. Yet, heard them she had, and once again she found herself relegated to being on the back foot. A part of her cursed the fact even as her cheeks turned red for what felt like the hundredth time.

In all of their 'back-and-forths', she always seemed to find herself scrambling for solid footing whenever Natsu offered her a compliment or sweet statement and Lucy could only lament as she fell powerless into his words. Half the time she was convinced that Natsu wasn't even aware of what he had said! It was like he instinctively knew just what words would prove to be her personal emotional kryptonite at any given moment. There were times where she was completely unsure about how much more her heart could take.

Not that it was all bad of course. She couldn't deny that she did enjoy his comments and the warm feeling in her heart whenever he said them. It had her feeling like she was truly important to him and that alone meant the world to her.

That was not to say that she took it all lying down. She was getting increasingly better at managing to elicit similar reactions from him all by herself. It was certainly not a talent that came as naturally to her as it seemingly did to him, but to her mind, that was a part of the challenge that made the game all the more fun.

Before she got the chance to offer any kind of retort however, he gently led her by the hand down the street a short way. After only a short distance, he stopped almost as suddenly as he had started. So much so, that Lucy had to struggle not to walk straight into the back of him. He turned to fact the building that he had stopped them in front of. Lucy followed his gaze until her bg brown eyes settled on their destination.

It was a good thing that she trusted Natsu's judgement enough to believe him when he said that it was a good place to eat, because the first impression wasn't necessarily favourable. It was what appeared to be an older style town house, converted into a restaurant property. The lights on in the upper floor windows told her that the upstairs of the property was likely a living space for the building's proprietors.

The door was aged and quite heavily weathered as a result of the harsh weather systems that often struck the city. A similarly worn sign was hung above the door and painted up with the name '8 Island'. Though once colourful, the majority of the pigments had long since washed out. The large windows were leaded and bore what Lucy assumed to be the restaurant slogan; 'An oasis for good food and better company', though from appearances Lucy was sceptical.

She was about to turn to Natsu and ask him if he was kidding when her eyes caught sight of one last feature that disabused her of the harsh judgements forming in her mind. Hung from the stubby porch structure above the door was another sign, much smaller than the rest. It was freshly painted in a brilliant red and featured three words in beautiful calligraphy. It simply read; "All Fairies Welcome", and above it was a stylised depiction of the fairy. It was one that she knew well, both from the tattoo on Natsu's right shoulder as well as the banners from the orphanage. It was a haven for Fairy Tail.

Once again, Lucy was astonished by just how far reaching a community the orphanage seemed to have. Perhaps they had a much greater influence on the city than she had thought at first, she wondered. The blonde made a mental note to keep an eye out for any other places through the city that might have similar connections, and visit them whenever she found one.

Before she could ask Natsu about it, he led her up to the door and stepped inside. Just as they were passing the porch, Natsu reached up with his free hand and allowed his fingers to brush against the little sign. It was an adorable touch, Lucy thought to herself, before stepping through the doorway and leaving the city behind her.

The inside of the restaurant was a far cry from what she had been expecting. Much like Natsu and Gray's car, the restaurant's rough and ready exterior was completely offset by the immaculate interior. The floors were swept clean and the decorations were tactful.

Each of the ten to fifteen tables featured a vase filled with lilies in full bloom, and the air was thick with the heady scent of cooking meat and a multitude of vegetables. A modest bar was set up in one corner, behind which stood a slender man with waist length hair, tied up into a tidy ponytail. A large fireplace was set into a back wall, in which there were several logs alight and crackling delightfully, filling the air with a delightful kind of warmth.

It had an atmosphere that sent her flying back to the winter days at her grandparents' house, sat beside the roaring fire and eating her grandmother's rich fruitcake. It filled her with warm feeling of nostalgia and memory.

"So what do you think?" Natsu asked, levelling his sage eyes on her with an expectant expression.

"I like it. It reminds me of when I went to spend the holidays with my family as a little girl." She replied, offering him a smile.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her response. They stepped into the centre of the dining room and took their seats on opposite sides of a table for two. In what felt like an instant reaction, one of the wait staff came over to them bearing menus. They set them on the table before settling a lit candle in between them.

Lucy looked up and around at the other tables. Many were empty, but those that did have occupants lacked candles of their own. Locking eyes with the server, she gave a quizzical glance, only to have her brows further furrow as she recognised the waitress as Levy. Before she could so much as utter a sound, Levy shot her a wink before darting off and leaving them alone.

After having watched her go, Lucy levelled a flat stare at her date for the day. It was meant to be her best attempt at a stern expression, but if the look on his face was any indication then it simply wasn't working. He looked at her with the same easy smile that he always did and seemed almost entirely unaffected by the fact.

"Okay Natsu… explain." She demanded when there was no explanation forthcoming.

"The old guy that runs this place was a good friend of Gramps' way back when in the olden days. Apparently he used to help gramps out a load whenever he was in trouble and before he joined Fairy Tail. When Gramps took over the orphanage, he called in a few favours to help get a couple of the older kids some jobs in here. It wasn't anything solid or with set hours, but it was a great way to keep us busy and earn us a little bit of cash here and there. It's been pretty much the same ever since, even Wendy and Romeo come in here to help out from time to time. It's like the sign outside said; 'all fairies welcome', anyone from Fairy Tail's past present or future will always find a place by the fire waiting for them in here. It's just the way that things have been here as long as I can remember."

Lucy was quite taken aback at first, amazed that there were still such people in the world. It almost seemed as though something had leapt straight from the pages of the fairy tales that she had read as a child. In those too, there always appeared to be a kindly old man that would take in the town's people in need and offer them both food and warmth. It almost seemed too good to be true in the real world.

"But what about Levy? Surely she doesn't have to work here for the extra cash, right?" Lucy inquired, still trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.

"That's right, I don't. I just like to pick up a few extra hours here and there to help keep the place running smoothly. It was this place that helped my buy so many books when I was little."

Lucy jolted with surprise when it was Levy herself that answered the question instead of Natsu. Just how had she managed to sneak up on them so easily? It's like she was a ghost! Yet the more that Lucy considered it, the more sense it made. Both she and Levy were kindred spirits when it came to their love of books and the worlds of fantasy that they offered, so it was only natural that Levy should want to help the place that granted her the ability to first explore those worlds in the first place.

"I'm sorry for listening to your conversation. I only came over here to see if you wanted some drinks and offer up a menu." The blue haired bookworm said, though if her playful tone was any indication, she wasn't feeling all that apologetic at heart.

Both Lucy and Natsu quickly scanned the drinks menu and placed their orders while Levy dutifully jotted them down and dashed off towards the modest bar over in the corner of the dining room. The barman seemed to jolt back into reality in an instant as she approached.

"Two orders for you Fried! Look alive!" she chirped, placing the order on the bar top. He scanned the paper for the briefest of moments before setting about preparing the drinks in a flash. He seemed to be little more than a blur of motion as he went.

Lucy watched him for a second before shifting her attention back to the menu that she was holding. Much like the exterior of the building, it was quite shabby. The faux leather binding had seen better days but that did little to detract from the items listed within. Her eyes scanned from one item to the next, and grew a little wider with each one.

There was a wide range of grand sounding foods ranging from delicate seafood through to rich and hearty meat dishes that were perfect for a winter's day. To say that she was impressed by the selection would have been an understatement. So much so that no one dish appealed to her any more than another.

Natsu placed his menu back on the table and leant forward to rest his elbows on the table. His fixed her with his eyes and seemed almost lost in his own world for a long moment. It was only the arrival of Levy again that seemed to pull him out of it. She placed their drinks on the table top and drew a notepad and pen from the pouch on her apron.

"So what would you both like?" She asked with a warm smile.

"The usual for me Levy, I'm not feeling too adventurous today." He chuckled. She quickly jotted down the information before turning to look at Lucy. A brief moment of indecisiveness shot through the blonde as she hastily scanned the menu yet again. Eventually she caved and went with her first instinct.

"I'll have the smoked salmon please. It's been a long time since I've had any seafood."

"Well you're in for a real treat; the chef here knows exactly what to do to bring out the full flavour of the fish. Anyway, I'm sure that you'll find out for yourself. With that, I will leave you lovebirds to it~" With another wink, Levy left them alone again before Lucy could so much as muster her retort.

The blonde could feel the blush growing across her cheeks, but wasn't entirely sure why. She was here on a date with Natsu, and there was little secret that she felt some degree of attraction to him, so why did she feel so embarrassed? Was it Levy's use of the word 'love' that did it; reminding her of all those instances of it that she had read about, as far back as she could remember? It had long since been her dream to find her own prince charming to sweep her off of her feet, but she had never really given much thought to the idea that Natsu could have been that person.

"What's on your mind Luce? You have that look on your face again, the one where you're trying to work out some kind of problem." Natsu's words pulled her out of her thoughts and back into the moment at hand. Unwilling to discuss the actual issue that bothered her, she fumbled for a quick excuse.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about what you told me, about how this place used to play such a big part in the lives of everyone that grew up at Fairy Tail. It's so unusual to hear about things like that, especially in a word where everyone seems to be getting further and further apart from each other." She answered. It was not purely an excuse given that she did have some degree of interest in the topic.

The two spoke further, and in much greater detail about the ways in which Fairy Tail tried to branch out and form a wider community for the children under its care to grow up into. All the while that Natsu spoke, Lucy could only marvel at the passion with which he spoke. To her, it seemed that Natsu had an unwavering feeling of faith in the upbringing that he had and that only served to strengthen Lucy's own admiration for him.

He had just begun to speak at length about some of the stories from his childhood when their food arrived. Levy approached their table carrying the two dishes on a large platter. Resting it on the edge of their table, she distributed them to the duo before turning and leaving just as quickly as she had arrived.

Lucy looked at her meal with wide eyes. The serving might not have been as generous as she liked, but the blonde simply couldn't deny that it was beautiful. The salmon was resting on a bed of greens with a generous drizzling of sauce around the plate. Delicate looking vegetables were carefully and deliberately stacked off to one side of the dish. To her mind, it was one of the most beautiful plates of food that she had ever seen. Once again, the little restaurant had managed to surprise her.

She looked over to Natsu and saw that his own plate had been laid out in a similar manner. The steak had been grilled and peppered but seemed to be cooked to perfection. The sight of it alone was enough to make her mouth water in an instant.

Picking up her cutlery, she tenderly cut a piece off of her salmon and dabbed at some of the sauce on her plate before raising it to her lips and delicately placing it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and savoured the rich flavours of the fish as they registered across her palate. It was incredible, matching the strong and heavy flavours of the smoked fish with the more light and refreshing flavours of the sauce.

Has she had her eyes open, she would have seen the smile on Natsu's face grow. His sage eyes marvelled at the way that the blonde's whole face seemed to light up as she tasted the food. Relief flowed through him at seeing the clear signs of approval etched into her features. She almost seemed to radiate some kind of celestial glow. His whole heart swelled with happiness and left him feeling just like he was on cloud nine.

"Natsu? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Natsu was pulled crashing back into the restaurant. Lucy had him fixed with her warm brown eyes, seemingly searching for some kind of answer within him. She had a slightly shy expression on her face that almost melted him then and there. Once again he found himself taken aback by the effect that she had on him, it was completely new to him and he wasn't sure if his heart could handle it.

"O-oh, nothing, you're just gonna think I'm weird."

"Oh come on Natsu, tell me. I promise I won't laugh." She replied, offering him a slight pout that had his heart beating even faster.

"Well, I was just thinking how pretty you look. You looked so cute when you took a bite just now. You kinda glow when you're happy, and it's amazing."

When he finished saying it his breathing hitched. Those same brown eyes that he had been looking into only moments before suddenly grew wide as the shock at his statement registered. She broke eye contact and looked to the dish in front of her, seemingly to hide her reaction from him; but Natsu's eyes were sharp. He saw the happy little smile that danced across her full lips, and the gentle tinge of pink that coloured her cheeks.

"Thank-you… that's so sweet." She said with her voice scarcely above a whisper.

Natsu considered a reply by quickly opted against it, deciding that in this case, less was definitely more. Picking up his steak knife and his fork, he tackled the steak on his plate. A warm smile crossed his face at seeing the lighter red colouring of the meat on his plate, just how he liked it.

They ate in companionable silence, occasionally broken by small talk about their food. Neither of them minded the silence so much, simply savouring one another's presence and the delightful flavour combinations of their food. Lucy found herself thrown for a loop when half way through their meal, Natsu proffered up a bite-sized piece of his steak for her approval.

Lucy paused for a long moment before leaning in and taking the food off of his fork. She smiled shyly, realising that she had just eaten from the same piece of cutlery that he had been using himself. Any trepidation was quickly lost as the sensational taste filled her mouth. The meat was tender and flavoursome. The pepper added a spicy punch to complement its impact. Despite being cooked much rarer than she might have usually liked, it was excellent and left her wanting more.

Wanting to return the favour, she quickly picked up a piece of her salmon and held it out to him with a shy smile. She barely caught the twinkle in his eyes before he darted forward at lighting speed and nabbed the food off of her fork, completely unabashed. A wide grin spread across his face as he nodded emphatically to show his approval before returning his attention to his food and demolished the remainder of it.

Lucy followed in short order, lamenting as she finished the last morsel and wishing that she could have gone on eating more and more until she was full to bursting but that just couldn't be. She pouted slightly and savoured the taste as long as it remained to her.

The two of them left the restaurant before long, after a short debate on how best to settle the bill. Natsu had ended up paying in the end, giving her his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes until she eventually conceded the argument in between fits of giggles.

After that, they had left the restaurant and made their way to the theatre singing together the whole way. Lucy loved every moment of it. When at last they arrived, they quickly shuffled inside and bought tickets. Natsu paid for the tickets while Lucy had insisted on paying for the snacks. Walking side by side, they walked into their screen and took their seats to await the start of the film.

It was some hours later when they emerged into the foyer, blinking in the face of the bright lighting. Natsu stretched with a slight yawn. He found himself feeling drained after the movie.

"That movie was way longer than I was expecting!" He laughed.

"What did you expect? it's a really long musical in the theatres. They actually did a great job to cut it down so much and still keep the key essence of the story. It was a really great adaptation." She answered, rolling her eyes playfully.

She had been in her element the whole way through, mouthing the lyrics to all of the songs and grinning whenever her favourite lines had come up. She had read the book many years ago and had fallen in love with it, but even she had begun to feel a little worn out once it had crossed the three hour mark.

"Wait, that wasn't the whole thing?!" He asked in complete surprise. He had loved seeing Lucy so happy as they watched it, sneaking glances over at her whenever he believed that she wouldn't notice.

"Yeah, there is easily another hour or so of material that they could have put in, but I'm glad they didn't. It was great as it was, thanks for asking me out here today Natsu."

When they stepped outside, Natsu was shocked to see that the sky had darkened and that the first inkling of the stars had begun to show in the sky. The two of them climbed into Natsu's car and he began to drive her back to her house. She leaned her head against the window and looked up at the sky with an occupied expression. With each moment that passed, and every mile closer to Lucy's home that they got, he felt his heart sink. It had been a great day and he lamented the idea that it would soon be coming to an end.

"You can never see the stars clearly in this city…" Lucy said with a sigh. "I wish that sometimes they would turn off some of the lights so we can all see the stars."

Natsu listened to her and the idea leapt into his mind. Quickly planning a route in his head, he turned off from the main road and drove down a side road leading to the suburbs. Lucy turned to look at him quizzically but refrained from asking when he shot her a knowing smile.

He drove out through the suburbs and beyond a short way. The skies above darkened into an inky black as the city lights faded away behind them. After a half hour driving, Natsu pulled in at the side of the road and switched off the engine. Climbing out, he walked around and popped the trunk of his car, even as Lucy made to follow. She found him stood behind the car, wrestling with a blanket in an attempt to roll it up and tuck it under one arm. By his feet rested a large torch.

Before she could say anything, he managed to get the blanket under his arm and picked up the torch. He held it with the same arm that held the blanket clamped to his side and switched the light on. Taking Lucy's hand with his free one, he led the way away from the car and onto a small walking path. He kept the torch levelled on the ground in front of them and set off along it. Lucy followed eagerly, trying to watch her step while keeping pace with her date.

She was confused as to where they were going but trusted that everything would become clear before too long, knowing that Natsu had to have brought her out here for a reason. As it turned out, the answer to her questions presented itself before too long.

They had been walking for only five minutes when the path that they were on began to climb. The slope was a subtle one at first but quickly grew in its incline until they were both out of breath and their legs burned. As they walked, Lucy regretted not having worn a more robust pair of shoes but didn't say a word in complaint.

Before too much longer, the path crested the hill and Natsu pulled her off to one side and came to a stop. Lucy opened her mouth to ask one of the multitudes of questions that were whizzing around in her mind but she was stopped when Natsu calmly placed a finger to her lips with a smile.

Lucy was glad for the darkness on the hilltop for hiding her blush but couldn't bring herself to look away from him. With a smile, he withdrew his hand and silently pointed up before flicking off the torch in his hand.

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the pitch dark once the torchlight was gone but once they did, she understood just what Natsu had been pointing at and why he had brought her to the hilltop in the first place. Looking up she marvelled as one by one the countless numbers of stars began to appear. Her breath hitched in her chest as their radiance presented itself like so many brilliant diamonds laid out of a deep velvet cloth.

"Natsu I…." She began but the words died in her throat before she could finish. She looked over each and every one of the constellations overhead, recognising them all in an instant like old friends she hadn't seen in years but had never truly forgotten.

"You said that you missed the stars, so I thought we could make a slight detour." He said with a slight chuckle, even as he laid out the blanket on the grass of the hilltop. He took a seat and patted the ground beside him, inviting her to join him.

She hesitated for a moment, torn between the stars overhead and moving to join him. She quickly looked away and dashed over to sit beside him. No sooner had she sat down than her eyes returned to the sky above with a wide smile on her face.

"Look over there, that's Aquarius the water bearer! That was always my favourite when I was a little girl." She said excitedly, pointing to a cluster of stars in the southern sky before shifting to point at another. "And that's Leo the lion, and ruler of the twelve zodiac."

"You really know the stars well don't you?" He asked, happy to see her excitement.

"Yeah! My mom and I used to stay up in the summer and look at the stars. She is the one that taught me everything I know about them. She even bought a telescope so that we could see them all better. She always loved the stars, and after a few years, I came to love them just as much as she did."

"That sounds amazing. I'm glad that you got to spend that time with your Mom. So what are the other constellations up there?"

With that, Lucy launched into a long talk about all of the constellations that she knew as well as the stories that were associated with them. All the while Natsu listened, marvelling at the enthusiasm that was rife in her voice. Time passed and even as they sat there the moon began to climb ever higher.

When she finally finished, the winds had risen and begun to blow across the exposed hilltop. Natsu noticed as Lucy shivered beside him. Quite without thinking, he leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Without hesitation, she leaned into him and marvelled at the incredible warmth that his body seemed to radiate.

Looking up at him, she caught his eye and favoured him with a smile. She stared into the depths of his sage eyes and felt like she could stay there enveloped in them forever.

"Thanks for this Natsu. It feels like it's been forever since I last got to sit and see the stars. It's almost like I'm back at my Mom's telescope again and I can't tell you how much that means to me. It feels like I'm connected to her again." She whispered above the wind.

"That's okay Luce, I just wanted to make you smile. I'm just glad that you had a good time."

"I had the best time. It was almost perfect." As she spoke, she felt herself subconsciously begin to lean in ever so slowly towards him, their eyes still locked together.

"Almost?" He asked, beginning to lean in towards her. By now his voice was barely a whisper, the slightly gravelly tone still creeping in to provide it an almost carnal nature that set her heart going "What can I do to make that totally?"

"Just…" She answered, bringing her lips to within mere millimetres of his. "One…" she said as her eyes fluttered closed. "Thing…" She finished as she brought their lips together at long last in a final action that fate itself seemed to want.


	11. A Wind Down

As she lay in bed that night, Lucy's heart was all aflutter and her mind still swimming. Over and over she replayed the events of the evening in an attempt to come to terms with just what it meant for herself and Natsu, yet whenever she tried to think about it, her mind completely failed her. All she could recall was the incredibly warmth of his lips against her own and the intense feeling in her chest that came with her.

His kiss was one which was decidedly difficult to characterise. It was passionate and intense, while still retaining the feeling of tenderness that Natsu seemed to exude whenever he let his usual cocky persona slide. All the while they had been kissing; she had been enveloped in the scent of his spiced aftershave. Altogether, the intense sense of desire that she felt from him combined with the romance of their situation had awoken something carnal deep within her, and before she had known quite what she was doing, she had wrapper her slender arms around his neck and kissed him back with equal parts passion and desire.

They had remained like that for several minutes, until the taste of his lips was thoroughly ingrained in her mind and beyond the possibility of ever being forgotten. When at last she had finally pulled back and away, her cheeks were rosy and her breathing ragged. Yet perhaps the biggest surprise to her was the unusually shy and sheepish look on Natsu's face. He looked off to the side awkwardly and scratched at the back of his neck.

"I uh…" He began, his voice cracking within seconds. Noting that, he seemingly gave up trying to find words and just uttered one with a tone akin to bewilderment "Wow~"

Lucy giggled softly to herself and leaned in to rest her head on his chest. In her heart, she felt the purest form of joy unlike any she had felt in years. Truly, she felt as though she belonged there in his arms. A tiny part of her hoped that they could stay there on that secluded hilltop beneath the stars, far away from the world and its troubles but it simply couldn't be.

A short while later, she yawned as the fatigue of the day swept out of no-where and wrapped her up in its embrace. Natsu had been quick to act and helped her to her feet and packing away the blanket again. She immediately lamented the loss of his body heat against her the moment he moved away and the evening's chill bit into her again.

They walked back down from the hilltop in companionable silence, though Lucy noted with a grin that Natsu was stealing furtive glances at her much more regularly than he had been on the way up. it was just like him to behave so shyly after they had kissed. He might have put it about that he was all confidence and bravado, but Lucy knew better. She had quickly found that his confident persona was all for show. At heart he was one of the sweetest and most compassionate people that she had met; not that he would ever admit to such a thing. Lucy didn't mind though, it meant that he was comfortable around her if he was willing to drop his guard to such a degree, and the idea that he trusted her so much meant the world to her.

The drive back to her home was over all too quickly for her liking. They had sat in silence for most of the way back, but Lucy didn't mind at all. She was still on a high after the events of the day. It had been wonderful from start to finish. A slight pang of sadness stabbed at her heart when he pulled the car up outside her door, signalling that their time together was now in fact over.

Climbing out of the car, she checked her belongings before walking across the pavement and to her door. Natsu walked along beside her and took a stop a few steps back. It wasn't far to her front door, but Lucy smiled at his protective nature, and glad that he went out of his way to ensure her getting home safely.

"So Luce, I uh… I had a great time today, I hope you did too." He said softly, as she slid her key into the lock.

She took pause, and turned to face him with her warmest smile.

"Absolutely, it was amazing, and I loved every moment of it. Thank you for taking me out to see the stars Natsu, It was really sweet of you." She said, blushing ever so slightly under the light of the streetlamps.

"So maybe we can do this again sometime?"

Smirking to herself, Lucy stepped over to him. She made a point of swaying her hips as much as possible in just the right way to make it as seductive as she could. Leaning right in, she positioned her lips right beside his ear and whispered her reply.

"I think I'd like that Natsu. If tonight was any indicator of things to come, then you can definitely count me in" She purred in his ear. It embarrassed her deeply to have done it, but when she pulled away, the action was justified when she saw the bright red glow to his cheeks. Not quite ready to call it quits, she went in for the kill.

"Thank you again Natsu." She said, darting in to place a quick and delicate kiss on his lips. Instantly, she felt the electricity at the contact that started her heart beating at a full gallop. Then, before her courage could fail her she turned and dashed into her house. No sooner had the door closed behind her, than she collapsed into a puddle as her knees finally gave out underneath her.

On the other side of the door, Natsu stood stock still and utterly star struck. His brain had given out at last. His thoughts had already been swept up into a frenzy at seeing those sultry hips swaying towards him like a seductive pendulum but hearing her purr in his ear in a voice that felt thick with desire had been the straw the broke the camel's back. With his head still in a mess he climbed back into his car and frantically tried to pull his thoughts into order again. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he put the car in gear and pulled away into the night, the grin on his face growing the whole while.

Juvia snuggled in closer to her partner and sighed contentedly. She had spent the whole evening with Gray after having closed down the coffee shop for the day. It had been a kind of impromptu date night, only decided upon at the last moment by a series of last minute text messages. As it turn out, Juvia was more than glad that she did. She had been reclining with Gray on the couch for the whole time, using his shapely chest as her own personal pillow… once she had stopped blushing long enough that was.

When she heard the lock on the apartment door click and the door itself swing open, a soft frown crossed her face. She knew that Natsu's return signalled an effective end to her time alone with Gray and that alone was enough to put a pout on her face. Seemingly, she was nowhere near as subtle as she had thought, as she felt ripples of laughed surge through Gray's body underneath her.

When Natsu came into the room, Juvia was half expecting Lucy to have come along with him. Naturally she was surprised when the blonde was missing. Curious thoughts sprang up in her mind regarding her best friend's date that day, but she opted not to press him for the details.

"Well… how'd it go?" Gray asked bluntly, feigning disinterest. Though Juvia could tell from the briefest of glints in his eyes, that he was in fact very much invested in what his housemate had to say.

"It went… uh… really good. We kissed… I took her out of town a ways to see the stars and we kissed…"

Anymore that he might have said was quickly lost as Juvia let out a high-pitched and thoroughly excited squeal. She was sat bolt upright with her hands clasped together over her heart. Her cheeks glowed and her eyes sparkled as her deep-seated love for romance in all of its forms took hold.

Natsu shot her an uneasy look, sensing the tirade of questions that was about to come his way and hastily shuffled through into the kitchen. Heaving open the fridge door, he grabbed a couple of beers and headed through to his room, away from the overly enthused romance addict.

Gray waited until Natsu was gone and Juvia had settled back down again. He sat upright for a long moment, seemingly lost deep in thought before he once again lay back with her.

"Y'know, their date today must have been something pretty special. Even if he was playing it down quite a bit, I haven't seen him behave like that in a really long time. Whatever happened, it must have meant a lot more to him than he is letting on." Gray said with a slight smile.

"Juvia wonders how Lucy is. If Natsu was completely different afterwards, Juvia knows that Lucy must be pretty excited." Juvia smiled warmly at the thought. She had long hoped that Lucy would find someone to put a smile on her face and from the moment that she had met Natsu that certainly seemed to be the case. Regardless, Juvia fully planned to press the blonde for details. Setting the thoughts aside in the back of her mind, she relaxed back into Gray's side and returned her attention to the film that they were watching.

The following morning, Juvia made her way into work with a jovial feeling in her heart. She opened the door to the coffee shop with a veritable spring in her step. She strolled through to the back and was met with a smiling Lucy sat behind a pile of papers on the table. The blonde was looking at the sheaves of documents in front of her but didn't so much seem to be looking at them as through them. It was clear from the unfocussed look in her eyes that her thoughts were anywhere except the task at hand.

"Good morning Lucy, good date?" Juvia asked with a mischievous grin. The grin faded from her face when Lucy failed to respond.

Her curiosity overtook her as Juvia took a step forward and leaned down in front of her friend. Leaning right in, she locked her blue eyes with Lucy's brown ones and searched for any signs of life therein. Seconds had turned into minutes when all of a sudden, Lucy's eyes returned to sharp focus. Her cheeks glowed a brilliant red and shock registered. Drawing back she sat bolt upright, and stammered out a hasty justification.

"J-Juvia! How long have you been there?! I uh… I was just-"

"Thinking about a certain rosy-haired someone perhaps?" Juvia interrupted, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. The act was rewarded when the blush on Lucy's face took on a much deeper hue than it had been.

"N-no… well, maybe a little but… it's not my fault!" Lucy blurted out, hastily trying to pull together an explanation.

"Oh? You must tell Juvia! Juvia heard from Natsu that you had shared a most romantic and passionate kiss." Juvia gushed with a faraway look on her face, only serving to drive Lucy towards an even greater state of embarrassment.

"Y-yeah… we did… it was magical. He was the perfect gentlemen, we sat together under the stars and he just listened to me talk all about the constellations for ages. Then next thing I know we were moving closer and closer together… and then we were kissing. It was like I was out of body watching things happen but not knowing what to do. It was so romantic and perfect, and my heart still pounds when I think it." Lucy said. She stammered at times, but the more she said, the easier it got. Before she knew it the words were tumbling out of her thick and fast until at last she finished. It felt like a colossal load off of her mind. Doubtless, she would be made to recount the story for Erza and the new-hires before the day was out, but that much she could handle. It would get easier from hereon in right?

It did not.

"So he went to all that trouble?" Erza asked with an enchanted look in her eyes. Seemingly she too had been swept away at the first scent of romance, just as Juvia had been. Lucy smirked a little at the idea, somewhat amused.

"He certainly did, he was nothing but the perfect gentleman the whole time that we were together. He even drove me home afterwards and walked me from the car to my door." The blonde answered.

"And then what happened?" Erza continued. Lucy only had to glance at her to recognise the devilish look in her eyes. Once again she felt the familiar warmth of a blush creeping across her cheeks, as a sense of embarrassment welled up in her heart.

"And then, I went inside and straight to bed while he drove himself home. Nothing more happened that night." Lucy stated matter-of-factly, dismissing any and all thoughts of impropriety from the conversation. Yet despite this, she couldn't quite banish the hint of disappointment from her voice.

It wasn't that she was unhappy with how the date had ended, not at all. But she couldn't deny that a small part of her had wished that it could go further. The idea of them tumbling into bed together in a tangle of her golden hair and an aura of carnal desire stirred something deep inside her. She had fantasised about similar scenes time and time again since, not that she could or would, ever admit the fact.

"Lucy?"

She was pulled from her thoughts by a familiar voice. As her eyes refocussed, the concerned face of Erza came into view, flanked by both Laki and Kinana whom had paused in their work, still holding trays laden with freshly prepared coffee. All three looked at her with a confused expression. Behind the counter, Juvia's light and melodic laughter carried and pulled all four of them away from their discussion of Lucy's date.

Almost immediately, four pairs of eyes snapped onto the blue haired barista and very quickly came to understand the source of her amusement. She was leaned against the countertop, her chin resting on her interlaced fingers. She had a kind of faraway look on her face that was quickly explained when Lucy noticed who she was talking to.

At first glance, Lucy had assumed him to be a customer just like any other, dressed in the same kind of tailored charcoal business suit that so many of the other customers tended to wear. As it was, he was far from alike anyone else, it was Gray. The four of them watched in nigh on disbelief as he shot flirtatious smiles at the blue haired woman across the counter.

Straining their ears to hear what the two were discussing, they managed to catch the occasional snippet of the conversation.

"Things are all good to go when you are, I'll have everything finalised and ready in plenty of time I promise. Natsu has agreed to head out in the morning and not come back until we are all finished up. I Wish I could stay around a little longer but if I don't get back to the office I think they might go crazy. I'll see you soon though. Oh, and about this Saturday, we still good to go." He said with a smile. Reaching out he took one of her slight and delicate hands in his own and caressed the back of it with his thumb. Shooting her a final smile, he scooped up a cardboard coffee cup from the counter and wheeled around on his heel. Three long and loping strides was all it took to take him across to the door and outside into the street once again.

Juvia watched him go with a look of longing on her face, though it very quickly passed. Seeming to snap out of her stupor, Juvia quickly turned and set about cleaning down the coffee machines. She hummed softly to herself as she worked. Both Erza and the others continued about their own tasks, knowing that the time to grill Lucy about her romantic life was well and truly passed.

A mischievous grin crossed Lucy's face as she sauntered her way across the coffee shop and slipped behind the counter. In front of her Juvia still worked away. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings and humming cheerily the whole while. Sneaking up behind her best friend, Lucy clamped her slender hands over Juvia's shoulders and leaned in so as to speak directly into her ear.

"So Juvia, you and Gray looked a little cosy. Would you mind telling me just what you were talking about?" She asked. As Lucy spoke, her voice was thick with a sense of amusement.

Immediately, Juvia's whole body seemed to stiffen under the blonde's touch before she managed to stammer out a response. Lucy could tell in an instant that her friend was fumbling to keep something a secret.

"W-well, Gray just came in to uh… to see if Juvia was all prepared for this weekend. Gray is taking Juvia out for dinner at a fancy sounding restaurant in the city centre. Gray just wanted to let Juvia know that the reservations had been made and that everything was ready." Juvia finished, her tone was uncertain. Had Lucy been directly facing her friend, she would have seen Juvia bite at her lip nervously. She hoped that it was enough to convince the blonde.

Lucy remained unconvinced, but did not press the point. Conceding the point, she released her friend's shoulders with a smile and allowed her to return to her work. Turning to the coffee grinder, she began preparing a fresh batch of her special blends of coffee.

Behind her back, Juvia caught Erza's eye and offered up a knowing nod. The redhead returned the look with an expression of surprise, but it quickly gave way to a satisfied smile. Everything was going as planned and moved them ever closer to the final goal that Lucy's friends had been painstakingly preparing.

Lucy groaned when she finally got through the door to her home that night. Her feet were aching and her whole body seemed numbed from the day's work. Half-stumbling and half-walking, she made her way through to her living room and collapsed onto the sofa with an exhausted sigh. The softness of the sofa cushions welcomed her in an instant and threatened to lull her into the warm embrace of sleep.

With a good deal of effort she lifted her head and looked through to the kitchen with bleary eyes. A small part of her hoped that Natsu would poke his head around the doorway with his usual signature grin and provide her with a plate full of whatever delicious concoction that he had thought up, but that was a mere flight of fancy and Natsu wasn't there.

She knew that he was due to be working a late shift that night, something about the company needing all hands on deck for some kind of secretive project that was altogether far too hush-hush. After a minute of willing food to materialise in front of her, and it not happening, Lucy finally hauled herself back onto her tired feet and padded awkwardly through into her kitchen.

Opening the cupboards and the fridge she frowned at each in turn, lamenting the lack of any ingredients in either of them. All that remained available to her was a couple of red onions that had seen better days, some pasta and a tin of tuna. It was, without doubt, going to be a poor show on the food front that evening.

Internally, she cursed herself for not having gone grocery shopping earlier in the week. With Natsu coming around so often and usually providing ingredients for their meals, Lucy had fallen into the rhythm and grown complacent in ensuring that her own cupboards were properly stocked. Her heart sank a little at the idea that she had been taking Natsu and his generosity for granted.

Resigning herself to her culinary fate, she grasped one of the pans from her cupboard and filled it with a measure of the pasta before setting it over the stove to boil. She stood and watched as the first wisps of steam began to rise from its contents and the bubbles began to form. Pulling her attention away, she focussed on the onions. Once they were peeled and ready, she hastily chopped them. Her eyes smarted the whole while and by the time that she was done, bitter tears were filling her eyes. She had always hated onions. No matter how many times her other had taught her the best way to prepare them, Lucy had always forgotten and ended up a teary-eyed mess by the end.

Once they had been chopped, she opened and drained the tin of tuna and added both into a frying pan. She fried them off on a low heat until the pasta was ready. Checking that it was to her taste, Lucy drained off the pasta and combined the contents of the two pans in a bowl. She looked at her meagre meal with an expression of disdain. It was neither nutritious nor appetising. The growling of her stomach quickly put such thoughts out of her mind however, and only ten minutes later she was scraping the plate clean and bizarrely wishing that she had some more.

Leaving her dishes in the sink and writing them off as 'future Lucy's problem', she staggered up the stairs and into her bathroom for what she deemed as a well-deserved bath. While it ran, she lit a couple of scented candles and collected her favourite book. Bringing both it and her phone into the bathroom, she quickly undressed and settled into the hot water. An involuntary sigh passed her lips as the water washed over her and worked its magic on her tired body.

Taking up her book, she flipped through to the page that she had last left off at and began to read. Her eyes scanned through the text with practiced ease as the pages turned into chapters and the story melted away. She had just begun to read through the conclusion for the main heroine's character arc when her phone vibrated violently against the edge of the bath.

The sudden sound startled her so much that she nearly dropped her book into the bath in surprise. With her heart still pounding wildly in her chest, she carefully set her book down on the floor and picked up her phone. The frown on her face quickly melted away when she saw Natsu's name depicted on her phone screen. In a deft motion, she quickly unlocked her phone and opened the message that he had sent her;

' _Hey Luce! I know it's your birthday this week and thought you might like to celebrate it! I thought it might be nice to spend the day together so I took the day off work and got a couple of movies I thought you might like. We can relax and watch them and meet up with everyone else that night. I can't tell you anymore about that though, it's a surprise!'_

Lucy quirked an eyebrow when she read the final line. She could already feel the curiosity starting to eat away at her inside. She had never been particularly good with surprises, even when she was little, so to know that all of her friends had something prepared for her was going to drive her crazy. Yet she couldn't help but smile at Natsu, there was something incredibly sweet about him taking the day off just so that he could be with her on her birthday. It was something that she hadn't really experienced before.

As the excitement began to build in her chest, she quickly tapped out a reply signifying her agreement to his plan (along with a great deal of thanking) and hit send. Once done, she picked up her book again but found herself unable to settle into it or concentrate on the words in front of her. After a further ten minutes of trying to find the same sense of relaxation that she had enjoyed earlier, and failing to do so, she pulled the plug and climbed out of the bath.

Towelling off and getting into her pyjamas, she sat at her desk and penned a few words on her novel. Her mind was awash with ideas to such an extent that she struggled to pick out just one or two that would fit the narrative that she was trying to write. After drafting out a couple of pages in her flowing script, she set aside her pen and got herself ready for bed.

Even as she climbed into bed beneath the covers, the smile was still affixed onto her lips. It was a state of affairs that was becoming increasingly common for her. Since she had met Natsu, Gray, Erza and the other members of Fairy Tail she had been left with a residual kind of happiness that never seemed to fade, regardless of whatever else might be going on in her life at that time.

Juvia smiled softly to herself as she ran the brush through her tangled, cerulean hair. With each stroke more and more of the knots came free, returning her locks to their original silky state. As she moved the brush back and forth, her mind wandered absently. Since she had gotten the final go-ahead from Erza, it had been a struggle for her to withhold her excitement.

The subject of that excitement was, of course, Lucy's impending birthday. A great deal of effort had gone on behind the scenes in order to get everything ready, and there had been more than a little anxiety about just whether or not everything would be ready in time. Indeed, those fears had been the cause of a number of sleepless nights for all involved.

Yet when the news came through, Juvia felt like she might just burst with excitement. She knew that it would be a big day and naturally she couldn't wait to see the look on Lucy's face when everything finally came together. There would be tears, of that much Juvia was absolutely certain, though just whose tears they would be remained a great mystery.


End file.
